One Shot A Day 2
by Myra109
Summary: This is the 'sequel' to One Shot A Day with one shots for February. There will be one shots from Harry Potter, Percy Jackson, Misc. Books, Kane Chronicles, etc. All will be based off of quotes. Warnings inside, HATIUS IS OVER!
1. Open Arms (Draco, Scorpius)

_Hello! This is the sequel to One Shot A Day; these are the one shots for February_

 ** _Disclaimer: I own nothing_**

 **Draco Malfoy was never good at showing love, but for his son... he can make an exception. Mentions of child abuse**

* * *

 _When we show our love, the world opens it's arms to us._ -unknown

"Draco, would you mind stop pacing? You're making me dizzy."

"Well, Blaise, in case you don't know, I am going to be a father in a few hours, maybe less! I have a reason to freak out!"

"Well, yes, but pacing like a mad man is not going to help the situation!"

Draco Malfoy stopped pacing and sighed, rubbing a hand down his face, which was streaked with worry lines.

"Look, I'm just... what if I... you know-"

"Turn out like Lucius?"

"Yeah."

"You won't. I know you won't."

"Come on, Blaise, you know as well as I do that a third of abused children turn into abusers themselves. What if-"

"Draco, I am confident that you will be in the two thirds that don't."

"How can you be so sure?!"

"Because you promised me in our third year, and I quote, "I will never turn out to be a scum bag like him; I'd rather die than hit a child.""

"But that was-"

"Years ago. But the fact that you're freaking out now is showing me that you don't want to hit your child. That you're scared of doing it. That shows me that somewhere in that chest of your's, you have a heart. I saw it when you met Astoria. And I'm seeing it now. That family of your's can count on you if they can get you to wear your heart on your sleeve."

Draco sighed and collapsed into his chair, hiding his face in his hands.

"I'm in over my head, aren't I?"

"Little bit."

Draco sighed before he changed topics. "Do you think he'll look like me?"

"Oh, without a doubt. The Malfoy curse right there."

"Damn it. I was hoping no one else would have to bear that bastard's face- or mine for that matter."

"Hey, at least he won't have the same problems as you did. No war. No huge pressure. No dictator. No Lucius."

Draco raised his eyebrows. "Blaise, aren't I supposed to be the one having a pity party for myself, not you?"

Blaise laughed. "True, true. But seriously, Drake, you have nothing to worry about. At least you only have one kid; Pansy's having her fourth, and Potter's second is on the way."

Draco chuckled. "Maybe I should feel lucky. I'll only have one little monster running around."

(Little did Draco know how much trouble that one little monster would be. Cough-Cursed Child- cough!)

Blaise laughed. "Thank you."

"DRACONIOUS! FUCKING! MALFOY! YOU CAN CONTINUE YOUR BREAKDOWN LATER. RIGHT NOW, GET THE BLOODY HELL... IN... HERE...AHHH!"

Draco went pale, and leaving a snickering Blaise behind him, ran into the hospital room.

Blood coated the sheets, and he sprinted to the bedside to hold Astoria's trembling hand.

"I can already tell, Drake. They've got your stubbornness."

He groaned. "Good grief."

Astoria laughed before stopping abruptly to shout, "AH, SHIT!"

Draco turned to one of the male doctors. "Aren't you glad you're not a girl?"

He chuckled and said, "Thank, heavens. Now, honey, we're almost done."

"Well, would you mind hurrying it up?"

"Astoria, sweetie, calm down."

"Calm down? YOU WANT ME TO CALM DOWN!? I don't see you forcing something out of your body, so shut up, Drake!"

"Remind me to ask my mother if I was this painful," he muttered.

"I bet you were!" Astoria shouted before falling back onto the sweat stained pillows.

"Damn. Damn it! Draco, we are only having one child! I am not doing this again."

"Neither am I," Draco muttered.

"What was that, Draconious?"

"Nothing, dear," he squeaked (a very manly squeak, I assure you).

"AHH!"

"Alright, alright. What do you want to name them?" Draco asked.

"What? You're asking me this now?!"

"Just answer the question, Torie."

"Alright... for a girl, Ellana Daphne. Ella for short. For a boy... Scorpius. What should the middle name be?"

"I don't care as long as it's not my name."

"How bout Hyperion?"

Draco smiled. "Because he brings light to our lives. I love it."

"That was so cheesy, Draco."

"So?"

"Draco, I swear- AHHH!"

Crying filled the room.

Astoria laughed with relief. "Our child."

The doctor rushed to wrap the baby in a blanket before coming over and depositing the baby on Astoria's chest.

"It's a boy," the doctor said.

Draco smiled. "Scorpius. Scorp, for short."

"I love it," Astoria whispered.

* * *

Later

"Welcome home, Scorp," Draco murmured as he walked into the nursery with his son in his arms. He was alone; Astoria was resting after a very difficult twenty four hours.

The baby gurgled in response.

Draco looked over his shoulder to make sure that no one was listening. "Scorp, I don't want you to tell anyone about this because they may think I've gone soft, but... Scorpius Hyperion Malfoy, I promise to always love and protect you, no matter what the cost. I love you, son."

The baby giggled.

"But I swear, if you get into more trouble than Potter did... you're grounded for life."

* * *

Fouteen years later

"Damn it, why haven't they found them yet?"

"Draco, you need to calm down. Panicking is not going to help."

"Blaise... you don't have kids. You don't understand. If Scorpius dies... the little heart that I've gained over the years vanishes. Astoria's dead, and my parents... let's just say we're not on the best of terms. Scorpius is the only family I have left."

"Draco, we're doing all we can."

"Well, try harder." Draco choked back a sob. "I need him to come home. I love him. He's my son."

* * *

 _What do you think? I know Draco is OOC, but love can make you act differently, so..._


	2. Help (Powerless)

_I'm baaack... *rises from the dead*_

 _Sorry about the long awaited update, but my teachers have given me a 12 foot stack of homework to complete this week on top of two quizzes, a lesson test, my high school scheduling (I'll be a freshman next year), and a book report. Then, my school is going on an overnight field trip this weekend, so I've been packing. Anyway... tada! Chapter!_

 _Also, there are some of my religious beliefs in here, although brief. I'm a Christian, so don't read if the beliefs may offend you._

 ** _Disclaimer: I own nada._**

 **Daniel Corrigan wasn't one to ask for help, but now, he needs it more than ever. Or what was going through Daniel's head during Villainous when the wall fell on him. Mentions of drugs and alcohol, some suicidal thoughts, mentions of child neglect**

* * *

 _"My only advice is to stay aware, listen, and yell for help if you need it_." -Judy Blume

Daniel Corrigan had never been good at asking for help.

As a child, his parents were always working (the consequence of having a child so early), so Daniel was left with his uncle, who didn't exactly like him. His uncle would often be elsewhere drinking or doing drugs or a hundred things Daniel didn't even want to know about; as a result, Daniel was often left home alone to fend for himself.

He learned to cook on his own. He learned to do his homework on his own. He learned to clean, to tuck himself in, to comfort himself after nightmares. By the time his parents could take some time off work, Daniel was ten; they had a new baby; and... Daniel was as independent as a thirty year old.

For the first time since he was born, Daniel was considering screaming for help.

The memory was fuzzy, but he could recall Lawrence shoving him in front of the falling wall. The damn thing had come crashing down on him.

His chest was aching awfully bad from the hundred pounds of bricks lying on top of him. He couldn't breathe properly, and any time he tried to, he felt something sharp poke at his lungs- his ribs.

Now, he was very scared to breathe. Broken ribs... the slightest movement could puncture his lung.

It was also very dark in here. No pockets of light that he could reach for and dig his way out. No, this darkness was as absolute as the darkness that covered his eyes two years ago after the Shroud kidnapped him.

But what really bothered him was the silence. It was so quiet. No more giggles that gave away the invisble Rose. No more of Mollie's determined speech. No more of Louisa's quiet and soft voice; he hadn't heard that in a while. And Rohan... no more of the 'this is stupid; we shouldn't do this, so listen to me and don't get yourselves killed' tone that he always had. He always knew when one of the others was planning something, especially when that something was dangerous.

He missed Eric's voice the most though. He may love Mollie and she was his girlfriend, but in the end, Eric would always be his best friend. He'd been the one to stick by him all these years, even when Daniel turned his back on him. Even when he could steal Eric's powers with one touch. Eric was always there.

He'd missed Eric and Rohan when they were away at the Academy. And they came back... different. It wasn't like Eric to pick a fight like he did with the Nobles all those months ago.

The part that scared Daniel the most was a very, very, very small piece of his brain was happy that he was dying. No more pain; no more betrayal; no more fighting. He wouldn't have to dive into the abyss of darkness that was his future. He wouldn't have to charge into the unknown. He could be a kid forever; he'd never grow up. He could rest...

But whenever his mind traveled down that road, memories of his friends pulled him back. What about Mollie? She'd be heartbroken. And Eric... if anything was going to make him bitter, it'd be the death of his best friend. And Rose... he was her hero; how could he put that innocent little girl through so much grief?

'Help...' he thought.

And Georgie... his little brother. He needed him.

But it was too late to think of the value of his life. His vision was rapidly fading... The world was going black. It was time to say goodbye.

He could vaguely hear movement and... yelling. Was that Mollie's voice?

"Dan... yal..."

It was all so fuzzy and hard to hear... almost like he was hearing everything through a thick brick wall. Which I guess he was, only that wall was utterly demolished and threatening to crush his lungs.

"Daniel!"

Rohan.

Help...

The world went black.

* * *

 _Gran nodded and rested her chin on her hands as she twirled her can between her fingers. Her bent shape was silhouetted against the attic window, and behind her, Daniel could see the sun drooping low over the trees. In the pink evening glow, she looked like she did before the cancer- rosy and full of health._

 _"I'm glad that you're making friends, Daniel. I know coming here couldn't have been easy on you- new town, new school. There's a lot of grown up stuff going on around here with my being sick and all, but I don't want for you to forget to be a kid. At least for a little while longer."_

 _"I promise, Gran," he told her._

And then, he was lying in his bed and in the darkness, he would see a familiar silhouette seated on the edge of it.

Mollie.

"Mollie," he mumbled.

She smiled, although it was hard to see in the dark. "Hi, Daniel."

"What are you- I thought I was-"

"Dead? You almost were, but not quite. I'm just here to make sure that this doesn't happen again."

Daniel laughed, disbelievingly. "Mollie, everyone dies. You can't stop it."

"But not everyone dies at fourteen. Some are meant to die young, but you're not one of them, Daniel. There's so much you're meant to do in life."

"Like what?" Daniel snorted. "Honestly... I never really saw anything past defeating the Shroud."

She grinned. "Neither do I... or the physical me, I suppose."

"Physical you?"

"I'm Mollie's subconscious. With enough power, He was able to transfer her subconscious into your mind for the time being."

"He... you mean God?"

"Yes, but religion gets complicated and we're on a time limit. The point is you'll become a famous detective, solving more cases than any other detective in Noble's Green has ever solved. You'll write a famous mystery series. You'll marry Mollie, and have kids. When you wake up, you won't remember me telling you this, but you will remember that you have things going for you.

"Daniel, if there is one thing I want you to take away from this visit, it's that you have friends who care about you and are willing to help you. Let them, or this... will happen again. I know it. Please, just... remember that."

"I will, Mol."

"Good. I love you, Daniel. I always have. Even when I'm being stubborn and won't say it, I really do care for you. Never forget that."

"I love you, too, Mollie."

The image faded away.

* * *

Daniel's eyes fluttered open, and he groggily tried to sit up.

"I wouldn't do that if I were you," a voice said to his right.

"Rohan?"

"Hey, Daniel. You feeling okay?"

"A little groggy, but otherwise... yeah, I'm fine."

A watery sob sounded from beside him. "Daniel, you're anything but fine. A wall fell on you. If Johnny hadn't saved you-"

"But he did, Mollie. Thank you," Daniel said, directing the last part at Johnny, who smiled weakly and nodded.

"Do you think you can stand?" Rohan asked.

Daniel smiled. "Let's find out."

He struggled to his feet, feeling needles jab at parts of his body, but he took a few steps and didn't fall. Nothing appeared broken. Johnny's healing had done it's work.

He grinned at his friends. "I'm gonna need your help."

They looked shocked and slowly, the pair nodded.

"Well, come on, then. We've got a monster to defeat and a meteor to stop."

* * *

 _That italicized bit I took straight from Villainous, which was taken from Powerless... so yeah, I don't own that. Just wanted to let you know._

 _Thanks for reading! Bye!_


	3. Problems and Solutions (Jason, Leo)

_Hello, I'm back! Sorry for the late updates, but I had a school trip to DC this week and I have exams next week, so I will try to update, but I apologize if they're a little slower than usual._

 _And also, if you want to find out when I'm updating some of my other stories, I update in the order I published them. For example, I update Fiery Hero after His Skeleton and before Freedom Fighters. Just sort by published order and you can predict when a story will be updated. One shots are not included._

 _Jason is somewhat OOC, but in my defense, his characters kind of all over the place in the books. He could be a right Jerk at times, but mostly, he was the great friend and hero we all adored!_

 _WARNINGS: SUICIDE ATTEMPT, HINTS OF BULLYING AND ABUSE, BUT VERY VAGUE, LANGUAGE_

 ** _Disclaimer: I own nothing_**

 **After saying something he didn't mean, Jason needs to find a way to swallow his pride and apologize to Leo. Preferably before he... walks over the edge. Suicide attempt, language**

* * *

 _"A problem is never solved without a solution. Better sooner than later!"_ -Demi Lovato

He didn't mean it. He really didn't. It was the heat of the moment, and it just... slipped out.

"That's no excuse, Jason!"

Piper was right. There was no excuse for what he'd said; hell, even if he'd been possessed by an eidolon, it'd be no excuse.

"I've never seen Leo that hurt..."

Hazel was right. Jason had never seen Leo so... broken. So close to crying, as if Jason had slapped him across the face before telling him he was worthless. The second part, he practically had, and he'd never regretted anything more.

"Jason, you should know better."

Annabeth was right. Jason had been hurt before, really hurt. He'd been insulted, abandoned, lonely, betrayed... he should know better than to break someone else down like so many people had done to him. Because that pain... it never goes away.

"Jason, what the hell, man?! Leo didn't deserve that, and you know it."

Percy was right. Leo deserved so much more than Jason or anyone else gave him, and deep down, Jason knew that, but sometimes, things are stronger than logic. Fear is one of them. Anger is another.

"Jason... Leo may be insensitive, but he's not a bully. And you're not either. So... why?"

Frank was right. Jason wasn't a bully; he wasn't cruel. So why the fuck had he let his anger get the better of him? He hadn't done that in a long time.

"Damn it, Leo! You can't do anything right! No wonder no one wants you!"

Jason hadn't been right. Not at all. Because he couldn't live without his best friend. Neither could Piper. And even though Leo had hurt them before, he knew that the others had a special place in their hearts for Leo Valdez. Even Coach Hedge was very protective of Leo, scarily so.

"Leo," he called, quietly, as he stepped out onto the deck. "Can we talk?"

No answer.

"Come on, man. I came to apologize. Here me out?"

Nothing.

"Leo, pl... LEO!"

Jason dove forward and grabbed Leo's arm just as he stepped off of the ship. His best friend slammed against the ship and dangled like a rag doll; one wrong move and he'd plunge into the water several feet below. And die.

"Jason... just let me go," Leo stammered, looking into his eyes with his own broken ones.

"What? No way am I letting you die. Not now. Not when I can stop it," Jason said, his voice breaking.

"But you said-"

"I don't care what I said. I don't want you dead, and you shouldn't want that either," Jason whispered.

"What's going on?" A voice questioned from behind Jason.

"Percy, help!" Jason called, struggling to pull Leo up. He wasn't that heavy, but Jason couldn't pull him up alone.

The son of Poseidon rushed over and reached over the railing, grappling for Leo's arm. Then, together, the children of the Big Three yanked their friend over the railing, causing all of them to sprawl across the floor.

For a moment, no one said anything. Then, Jason completely broke down, embracing the fire user and sitting there for several minutes. He didn't even notice when Percy left, sensing that the friends needed a moment alone.

"Leo, I-I didn't mean what I said. You know I didn't, so why?"

Leo shrugged. "Why not?"

That caught Jason off guard. "W-What?" He stammered.

"Look, Jason, you don't understand. I messed up so many times, causing more problems than I solved. J-Jason, I killed my own mom."

Jason shook his head, defianitely. "No, you didn't. Gaea killed her, not you."

"But I started-"

"The fire, I know. But for all you know, your mom could've already been gone, Leo. Gaea could've killed her immediately, then made you use your powers to make you blame yourself."

"But I heard her..."

"What do you mean?"

"I heard her screaming. As I was going in and out of unconsciousness, I heard her screaming for help, for me. She was apologizing, but I never found out to who because she died. I killed her, Jason. The fire killed her."

Jason didn't know what to say to that, so he opted not to say anything. He just hugged Leo tighter.

"I'm so sorry," he whispered. "I didn't mean what I said. None of it was true. We do want you, Leo; we need you."

"No one needs me," Leo whispered. "They said so."

"Who?"

"Everyone. My foster parents, my foster siblings, my aunt, my cousins, the kids at school. Even some of my so called friends. You were 100% right."

"No, I wasn't. And none of those other people were. We need you. Who's going to lighten the mood when we need it? Who's going to be our funny, witty Repair Boy? Who's going to be our loyal friend, who's always there when we need him? Leo, please..."

Leo met his gaze. "If you didn't mean it, why did you say it?"

"Because I was an idiot and I was stressed. There's no excuse for what I said, but please, just... can you try to forgive me?"

Leo nodded. "I can forgive you, but... I can't forget about it."

"I don't expect you too," Jason muttered. "I wouldn't forget about it either. In fact, forgiveness would be the last thing on my mind, so you're being more lenient than I would be."

Leo smiled, sadly. "Jason... I'm sorry about what I said in Medea's shop all those months ago."

Jason hesitated. "Were you telling the truth?"

"What do you mean?"

"Well, you said that you were jealous of me. Were you telling the truth?"

"I'll answer if you tell me if you were telling the truth."

"Alright. I guess a part of me felt that way, but it was due to confusion and being an angsty teenager with the weight of the world on my shoulders. Nothing more, nothing less. Leo, you've done so much for me, and I never told you thank you. I returned to Camp Jupiter because you built that ship; I learned how to relax and let loose a little; I learned what a true friend is because of you. Not Piper or any of the others. Thank you."

Leo smiled. "You're welcome. But... I was also telling the truth. You were just so perfect that you didn't need me, and that inferiority turned to jealousy because maybe if I had everything you did, I wouldn't need to feel that way."

"You still don't. Inferiority is complicated, Leo; it doesn't just go away. And trying to fight it off is difficult. Trust me, I know; being a child of Jupiter, I have quite a few enemies, as well as friends."

Leo shrugged. "It's even harder when you've felt that way your whole life."

Jason nodded. "Well, don't worry. You're not gonna feel that way for long. I'll make sure of it."

Leo smiled, clearly not believing him. "Jason, I hope you know what you're getting yourself into."

"Leo, like I said, you taught me what a true friend is. A true friend would do anything for the other... anything, even if it's hard or hurts them in the process. And this is important; it's worth the hard work if I can make that mask you wear the real you and not something you use to hide the pain."

Leo chuckled. "Thanks, Jason, but can you do me a favor and not tell the others about this? Maybe after the war, but right now, we can't afford to get distracted."

Jason nodded. "Alright, but... what are we going to tell Percy? He's not as stupid as he acts. Saying you fell off the ship... he won't be fooled."

Leo sighed. "We tell him the truth. He's loyal; if we ask him to keep a secret, he will."

Jason nodded. "Or we may not have to... Percy, come out from behind that barrel."

A blushing and sheepish Percy crawled out from behind a wooden barrel, smiling awkwardly.

"Uh, hi?" He said.

Leo smiled. "At least I don't have to go through that explanation again."

Percy nodded. "But don't worry, I won't tell. Not even Annabeth, but you have to promise me that after all this is over, you'll tell them."

Leo nodded. "I will. I promise."

"Good," Percy told him. "Now, the others are all worried about you, so come on, before one of them storms up here and demands to know what the hell happened."

Leo laughed. "Yeah, we'd better get going."

Jason stood and followed them downstairs, mentally preparing his story for the crew.

They'd solved a problem together, a problem that had been present for longer than Jason may ever know.

He just wished that they'd come up with a solution sooner, before all of this happened.

Note to self, he told himself. Stop putting off problems because solutions are truly better discovered sooner rather than later.

* * *

 _I know I haven't written all that much, but I just want to remind you that I do elaborate on one shots upon request. They'll be posted near the end of the month, if I do any._

 _Bye!_


	4. The Lonely Shall Weep (NicoxWill, Percy)

_Yes, I am aware that February is over, and I'm working on it. I'll be writing all weekend and as soon as I finish this, I'll be writing One Shot A Day 3 with One shots for March. That will hopefully be posted a week from now, but I make no promises._

 ** _Disclaimer: I own nothing_**

 **Nico cried. He cried and cried and cried for all the pain in his sorry life. And for the first time, someone's there to be a shoulder to cry on. Maybe Nico won't be crying so much after tonight. Language, depression, boyxboy, Solangelo**

* * *

 _"Weeping may endure for the night, but joy cometh in the morning." -_ Psalm 30:5

Nico hadn't cried in a long time. Since Bianca died, actually. But now, he couldn't stop. Tears streamed down his pale cheeks as weak screams and yelps were torn from his throat.

The light was flipped on, and arms wrapped around his thin frame, shaking on the bed.

"Shh, Nico, it's okay," Will's voice whispered in his ear. "It's okay."

"N-No, it's not," Nico sobbed. "It's so dark... the grass is dead... and I'm all alone."

"Nico, you are not in Tartarus," Will said, firmly. "Here, listen to my voice. Can you hear me?"

Nico nodded, his trembling subsiding a bit.

"Now, are you alone?"

"I could be imagining you... like I-I imagined P-Percy and T-Thalia... and all the others."

"Shh, Nico, it's over now," Will murmured. "Do you want me to get Percy? Or someone else?"

Nico shook his head. "No, I don't want to be a-"

"Nico Di Angelo, if you say burden, I'll slap you."

Nico promptly shut his mouth.

"Nico, I wouldn't be here if I thought you were a burden. And I'll never forget when you ran away from camp when you were ten. Percy was going out of his mind looking for you."

"My fault..."

Will sighed. "No, Nico. We do these things-we worry- because we care about you. Because you're like a little brother, or in my case, something more. We need you, Nico."

"He's not wrong."

"SHIT!" The lovers jumped, tumbling off the bunk in the Hades cabin and toppling to the floor. Will weilded a black dagger he grabbed off of the nightstand, and Nico, his Stygain Iron sword.

Percy was standing in the doorway, staring at them with wide green eyes whilst holding back a laugh.

"H-How did you get in here?" Nico stammered.

Percy shrugged. "I heard you scream, and I got Travis and Connor to pick the numerous locks on your door. By the way, there may be some rumors going around tomorrow that you're either very paranoid or that you and Will like your privacy."

Nico rolled his eyes. "Alright. But why?"

"I heard you scream," Percy repeated, slowly and simply.

'No, I know that. But why did you come?"

"I was worried. What with Hazel being in Camp Jupiter, we were all worried about your nightmares, and we were kind of worried that you might, erm, go off the deep end."

Nico was confused. "Why were you so worried? You haven't been this worried before."

Percy snorted. "Nico, we've always been worried. Extremely. Since Bianca died actually. We may not show it, but we're more worried about you than anybody else."

Nico didn't know what to say, so he opted to open and close his mouth like a fish.

"So... Nico. What was the dream about?" Percy stammered, coming over to sit beside him, looking especially awkward.

Nico chuckled. "Percy, you don't do this often, do you? Comfort people, I mean."

"Other than Annabeth, no."

Nico laughed before he abruptly became serious. "It was about Tartarus. The dream.

"I'd been down there for a few days, and I had recently escaped the auri. I was bandaging the most severe wounds with the little supplies I had. The fire water helped, but the cursed wounds... needed a little extra care.

"Anyway, I was sitting at Hermes's shrine when suddenly... they're everywhere. Monsters. And the worst part is... some of them were shape shifters. Th-They made themselves look like you and Bianca and so many others.

"I-I defeated them, and it felt so much like I was betraying you, but it wasn't you, so that didn't make any sense. Then, all the monsters were gone and I was alone. The last thing I heard was this voice hissing murderer. Then, I woke up."

Will hugged Nico tighter, not really knowing how to reply. Percy patted Nico's shoulder.

"Neeks, that's what it felt like with the eidolons. I was hurting Jason back in Kansas- or at least was going to hurt him. I felt so guilty, even though, logically, I knew that it wasn't me. It's hard to convince yourself of that, but it's possible.

"I find this conversation kind of ironic because you and a bunch of others are always telling me to stop blaming myself for things beyond my control. Now, I'm here giving you the same talk. Maybe you should take a note out of your book."

Nico smiled and nodded. "Thanks, Perce."

"Anytime. Now, I better get back to bed. If I fall asleep during sword practice, Clarrise will have my head. Literally," Percy laughed.

Nico rolled his eyes. "That was pathetic."

"I actually thought it was pretty good," Will chuckled.

Nico rolled his eyes. "Of course you would, Corny Joke Master."

"Shut up, my Dark Prince," Will snorted before kissing Nico passionately.

"Alright, I get it! I'm out! Seaweed Brain has left the building!" Percy ran from the room, covering his eyes and muttering something about having no mercy on his poor eyes.

"But he's right," Will whispered. "I don't want you crying in the middle of the night anymore. Cause now you have a shoulder to cry on."

Nico nodded. "Yeah. Maybe my pillow will finally be glad to go a night without drowning."

Will laughed. "Only you could make a joke during a serious conversation like this."

"Actually, no. Percy and Leo are much better than I am at that. And Travis and Connor, I guess. Depends who you're asking I guess and what the situation is."

"And another profound speech from one Nico Di Angelo!" Will cheered, tackling Nico and proceeding the tickle him mercilessly. "Holler Uncle!"

"Never!" Nico gasped, trying to fight off Will's hands. "You will not win."

"Well see about that," Will chortled before tickling him even more and leaning down to kiss Nico's laughing lips.

"Let's have some fun," the son of the Sun suggested.

"You had me at the kiss."

(Now, we cut this scene off to keep this, erm, age appropriate for the younger viewers.)

* * *

 **A few days later**

Nico woke up, feeling better than he had in years. No nightmares. No tears. No pain. It was the first night he hadn't cried himself to sleep since Bianca died.

"Sleep well?" Will asked, sitting up.

"Better than ever before," Nico smiled. "Thanks."

"For what?"

"For helping me a few nights ago. I'll thank Percy later. That was the first time I did not cry myself to sleep since Bianca died."

"Well, glad I could be of service," Will smirked. "By the way, Travis and Connor want you to sit with them at lunch today."

"Why?"

"They're the Stolls. It can't be good."

"Well, what do they have on us?"

"Pictures of us kissing by the beach."

"How bad?"

"Not that bad, but..."

"Fine," Nico huffed. "But you gotta sit with me."

"I was planning too, darling."

"That was an awful British accent."

"Shut up."

"Never! Now, come on. We're going to be late."

Later that day, when lunch arrived, Nico and Will could be found at the Hermes table (after the war, the table rules got less strict, so no one really cared where you sat anymore).

BANG! BAM! BOOM!

What appeared to be fireworks went off around Nico and Will; color splashed around the couple, catching the attention of every person in the Pavillion.

When the lights faded, Nico and Will were covered in paint. Colorful liquid dripped off of them from head to toe. The entire camp held its breath in anticipation of who would explode first.

Nico busted out laughing, shortly followed by Will.

"Good one, you two!" Nico chuckled. "You think you could help me pull that on Percy?"

"OI! I heard that!"

"You were supposed to, but you never know when!"

"Damn it!"

"Percy, language!"

"Sorry, Annabeth!"

Despite the shock that filled the room because most of them had never even seen Nico Di Angelo smile, much less laugh, people couldn't help but go into hysterics.

Chiron just shrugged. He didn't want to know what on earth had just happened.

* * *

 _I know that overcoming PTSD is not this easy, but this story wasn't meant to be about Nico's healing process. It was just a sweet little one shot. Bye!_


	5. Battle Wounds (Leo, Percy)

_Wow, I'm really behind on these, aren't I? Whoops._

 ** _Disclaimer: I own nothing_**

 **Who knew that one scar could change everything? When Percy sees a scar on Leo's wrist, he finds out just how many scars the jokers had, and in return, Leo finds out about Percy's scars. Their battle wounds.**

 ** _WARNINGS: IMPLIED MOLESTATION AND MENTIONS OF CHILD ABUSE, MENTIONS OF SELF HARM AND SUICIDE ATTEMPT_**

* * *

 _"I think scars are like battle wounds- beautiful in a way. They show what you've been through and how strong you are for coming out of it." -_ anonymus

The first time Percy saw the scar, he didn't think much of it.

It was midnight on the Argo II as they sailed towards Rome and only two people were awake on the ship: Percy Jackson, who was on guard duty, and Leo Valdez, who was doing some repairs and couldn't sleep.

"What are you doing up?" Percy asked Leo as he sat down in the chair that Jason had just left.

Leo shrugged. "Couldn't sleep. Repairs to be done. Thought I might do something more useful than laying in my bed staring at the ceiling."

"Well, you look beat," Percy told him. "Sure you don't want to get some sleep?"

"Says the one that talks in his sleep," Leo chuckled.

Percy frowned. "How do you know that?"

"Annabeth told me."

"That traitor," Percy murmured, jokingly and dramatically.

Leo laughed. "Yep, she also told me how you drool."

Percy rolled his eyes, standing and walking over to stand beside Leo at the helm. He pointed to a button.

"What does this do?"

"That is autopilot. Works, but I don't exactly trust it to keep on course what with all the magic around the ancient lands."

"And this?"

"That is a call button. There's an alarm in all of your rooms, so if one of you sleeps into your shift on gourd duty or I just really want to annoy you, I ring that. It sounds like a car horn; I used it on Jason once. You should've been there; it was hilarious."

"What about this?"

"That one blows us all up."

Percy quickly retracted his hand and took a step back.

Leo laughed. "I'm just joking, Perce. I'm not stupid enough to make a self destruct button."

"Oh. So what does it do?"

"It opens a drawer," Leo said, simply, pressing it and Percy watched a drawer spring open, a drawer that was hidden from sight. "Now you're the only one that knows about this, so if you start snooping or blabbing, I'll have to whack you with a monkey wrench."

"Alright. What's in it?"

"Photos mostly. Personal items."

Leo reached into the drawer and ran his hands over a stack of photos. The drawer was oddly organized for someone that couldn't even do his laundry half the time. Photos were in a neat stack on one side; a neat stack of papers on the other with a wooden box a little bigger than Percy's hand in the center with Leo's initials carved into it.

"Hey, where'd you get that?" Percy asked, grabbing Leo's hand and holding it under the dim light above their heads.

Just below Leo's sleeve there was a thin white line: a scar. It was a few years old, but not excessively so, and therefore, it wasn't a scar from childhood. Probably early teenage yeats, if Percy had to guess. And whatever injury it was, it'd been well taken care of at the time.

"Oh, erm, monster attack. Hellhound sliced me across the wrist when I was thirteen. Wacked it with a hammer, and turned it to dust."

"Don't worry, man. Got plenty of monster attack scars."

The two boys spent the night sharing stories of their past monster attacks, laughing and just enjoying each other's company until Piper came out at four AM to switch places with Percy.

"Get some sleep, Leo," the son of the sea told him before disappearing downstairs.

Man, if I had a dime for every time someone told me that, I'd live in a mansion, Leo thought.

And for the first time, he listened.

* * *

The second time Percy saw the scars, he got suspicious.

"Oi! HELP! I AM NOT FOND OF BEING IN A COCOON! COMMANDER OF THE ARGO II DYING OVER HERE!"

Percy ran into the engine room, wielding his sword, ready to gut whatever foe had attacked the Argo II. For a moment, he just stood there.

Then, he started laughing. Leo Valdez was cocooned in ropes and hanging upside down from the ceiling.

"Yeah, yeah, it's so funny," Leo rolled his eyes. "Just get me down from here."

Percy nodded, going over and working on cutting the ropes with his sword.

"Is there a reason you decided to try out the cocoon?"

"The darn Archimedes Sphere. Push the wrong button, and bam! Things like this HAPPEN!" Leo fell to the floor. "Thanks."

Percy snickered. "Your welcome."

And that's when he saw it, or more accurately, them. Three thin white lines slashed across Leo's wrist, looking like they'd been deep and narrow.

"What's that?" Percy asked, taking ahold of Leo's wrist. One disappeared beneath Leo's sleeve, and he started to pull the sleeve up when Leo smacked his hand away.

"One is from a Hellhound. The other two are from some kind of monster I still don't know the name of. They healed just fine, though, but thanks for the concern."

Leo left without another word, leaving the sea prince with a lot of questions.

* * *

The third time Percy saw the scars, he got an answer.

He and Leo had been training; Percy, with Riptide, and Leo, with his hammers. Percy, being taller and stronger and with more experience, had the upper hand, although Leo was small and quick, giving him an advantage. Still, in the end, Percy wacked Leo's right arm, sending his hammer flying across the room. But he wasn't prepared for Leo falling to the floor.

Leo held his arm, looking to be in pain, but Percy didn't see any blood and Leo wasn't the type to over dramatize an injury.

"You alright?" Percy asked, kneeling down beside him. "Let me have a look."

Leo tried to pull away, but he hissed in pain and Percy took the opportunity to grasp Leo's arm. He yanked up his sleeve and froze.

One verticle scar stretched down Leo's forearm, right along the vain.

Neither of them said anything for several minutes.

Then, Percy turned around and stripped off his shirt, startling Leo as he displayed his back.

Scars stretched across his skin, all years old and not from monster attacks. Or at least not a mythical monster attack.

"Who?" Leo asked, simply, feeling his back tingle as he was reminded of his own scars.

"My step father, Gabe. Since you know what they're from, I'm assassuming you have them too?"

"Yeah. From lots of people. Teresa, John, Martin, and so many others. Apparently, the Fates just wanted to torture me."

"Is that why you..." Percy gestured to his wrist.

"Part of the reason, yeah, but the suicide attempt happened after my... after my fifth foster home."

"What happened there?" Percy asked, not wanting to pry but needing answers.

"The foster dad was a pervert. Liked little boys," Leo whispered, choking back a sob.

Percy, too horrified to say anything, just wrapped an arm around Leo's shoulders, vowing the kill the monster that would do such a thing if it was the last thing he did.

"I'm sorry for crying all over you like this. I must seem like such a baby," Leo said.

"You're not weak for crying," Percy told him. "Not at all. In fact, I think you're kind of brave for crying."

Leo looked at him, weirdly.

"Well, so many people are too proud to cry, so those that can swallow their pride and let their guard down are incredibly brave."

Leo smiled. "Thanks, Percy."

All was silent for several moments.

"And Percy, he's rotting in jail for the next ten years, so you don't have to kill him."

Percy growled. "How much time has he served?"

"Five years."

"Only fifteen years?! I'm gonna kill the bastard, bring him back from the Underworld, torture him, kill him again, and keep doing so for the rest of eternity."

"Percy, it's over. And besides, he'll get what he deserves. Do you think anyone's going to hire him when he gets out of jail? He's got no wife, no kids, and he's not the kidnapping type. He'll be dirt poor and homeless not even a year out of prison."

"I guess so."

"Now, we should get to dinner. The others will be wondering where we are."

Percy nodded and the two stood.

Leo pulled down his sleeve over the scar.

Maybe now, that battle wound could become a battle scar.

* * *

 _What'd you think? REVIEW!_

 _Also, those of you that are confused, when Leo fell to the floor during training, it was due to a phantom pain that was triggered by Percy's attack._

 _Bye!_


	6. Problem Solving (Leo, Drew, Connor)

_Sorry for the late update! School has been beating me to a bloody pulp lately!_

 _WARNINGS: LANGUAGE_

 ** _Disclaimer: I own nothing_**

 **Drew Tanaka, Connor Stoll, and Leo Valdez really didn't want to go on the quest together, but alas, the Oracle had opened up its mouth, so now, three polar opposites are on a quest. Can they learn to communicate, or will this quest crash and burn?**

* * *

" _When you learn how to communicate with others, there is almost no problem you cannot solve together." -_ Demi Lovato

"I don't want to go on a quest with them!"

"We don't want to go on a quest with her!"

"She's a jerk!"

"They're annoying!"

"QUIET!" Chiron shouted, causing the three campers to jump. "The Oracle has spoken. You three are to go on a quest together. You leave in the morning."

With that, the centaur left Leo Valdez, Drew Tanaka, and Connor Stoll standing in the Big House, shooting daggers at each other.

This morning, everyone had been peacefully eating breakfast when BAM! Rachel opens her mouth and prophecy time!

" _Charmspeak, Fire, and the younger Stoll_

 _Shall travel to the place where there is coal_

 _Monsters gather in the capital of this state_

 _And they must be defeated before it's too late_

 _Learn to work together_

 _Or the safety for your kind will be lost forever"_

The members were pretty obvious. Only one fire user; Connor was a year younger than Travis; and Piper was visiting her dad, so Drew was the only candidate.

Now, the question is what the heck does the rest mean?

The three quest members went their separate ways, all peeved off because Connor almost never left his brother's side; Drew hated everybody except the person in the mirror; and Leo didn't like Drew.

When dawn came, bags were packed and the trio was ready; Annabeth and Chiron met them at the crest of Half Blood Hill.

"Alright," the daughter of Athena said. "There's been a stirring of monsters in Wyoming, a huge stirring. You three need to send the monsters to Tarturas before any more monsters are gathered. Apollo gave us this. Once you arrive in Wyoming, the object will point you towards the location; it's drawn to the stirring of monsters, like a compass is drawn to the north."

She handed Leo a circular object- celestial bronze with Greek letters drawn around the rim. Under a clock face, a red arrow stood still, pointing straight ahead.

"Thanks," Leo said. "Now, we better get going. The last thing we want is another near apocalypse."

"You can say that again," Connor muttered before the three walked towards the van, which would take them to the edge of the city.

The entire ride was dead silent, and by the time Argus dropped them off at a bus station between New York and Ohio, the night sky was pitch black and no more buses would be traveling for the rest of the night.

"Well, damn..." Leo muttered. "I call this bench!"

"Are you used to sleeping on benches or something?" Drew rolled her eyes.

"What can I say, Drew? I'm a runaway. I've slept in worse places than at a bus station on a bench."

"Same here," Connor told them. "Til you've slept in a trash can, you have not known how bad it can get."

"Dude, I've slept in sewers."

"I've slept under bridges."

"I've slept buried in the snow."

"Why were you buried in the snow?"

"My foster dad didn't like me all that much."

"Neither did my uncle," Drew piped up. "My dad died when I was young, but my uncle hated me. I was lucky if I got to sleep on our kitchen floor."

"My mom went off the deep end when dad left. Travis and I were usually sleeping in the basement or in the attic, which aren't heated very well, so... yeah."

"I've slept in a zoo with the monkeys."

It was silent for a moment.

"You win."

Leo smirked.

"Could it be because you are a monkey?" Drew asked.

"Yep," Leo chuckled. "Actually, social services were after me and I needed to make a quick getaway, so I ran into the zoo. It was the middle of the night, so there was, like, no one there, and I hid in the bushes among the monkeys."

"You have a hectic life, don't you?" Connor laughed.

"Yep!"

"Oh, you should hear about this one police chase I was involved in! I'd stolen something from a store; it wasn't anything important or super expensive, just some food and clothes, but the police didn't like me, so they made a huge deal out of it. Yeah, they were looking for me, and I hid on top of their car. It took them an hour to realize that they'd been driving around in the middle of the night with a kid on the roof of their car."

"If you think that's funny, when Travis and I were younger, we raided a candy store and the police came after us. We ran through the streets and caused such a bad traffic jam, it took them three days to unclog the street! Hah!"

"Really?" Drew snorted. "When I was eight, I 'accidently' flooded the streets when these police came after me for stealing a car-"

"Wait. You were eight! How did you even know how to drive?" Leo asked.

"I had an older cousin, and really, I just copied what I'd seen her do. I'm a fast learner. Anyway, that's what happens when you involve charmspeak, a garden hose, and a fire hydrant."

It got silent.

"Drew wins."

The said girl smirked.

"So... what now?" Leo asked after it'd been quiet for several minutes.

"You guys want to hear about what I did to my dad when I first met him?" Connor asked.

"Hell yeah!" The son of Hephaestus laughed.

"Well, I was about three and Travis, four. Our mom wasn't home as usual, and our dad apparently doesn't know how to use a doorbell, so he just walked in. We thought he was a burglar, so Travis kicked him and I bit him. Then, we- have either of you seen Home Alone?"

Both nodded.

"Picture that, but with more traps."

Drew giggled. "I can totally see that."

"Me, too," Leo agreed. "I actually did that to one of my foster parents once. It was hilarious."

Silence reigned.

"Guys," Connor said, his voice barely above a whisper. "How big do you think this gathering is?"

"Pretty big," Leo whispered, "if the safety of our kind will be lost forever."

"Are you scared?"

No answers. Only silence.

* * *

"Hah! We know about you, godlings. The jokester with a dark past; the prankster filled with loneliness; the arrogant bully with more insecurities than fingers," the Cyclops chuckled. "How could you three weaklings ever defeat all of us?"

Leo was right when he guessed the size of the army; it was 'pretty big'. Cyclopses lined up on all sides, alongside dracnea, hydras, drakons, and a hundred others the trio didn't recognize.

"Shit," Drew muttered.

"You can say that again," Connor mumbled.

"If you don't say it, I will. Aw, shit," Leo whispered.

"We need a plan," Drew stated.

"Anyone have one?"

"Nope."

Their discussion didn't go on any longer because the monsters surged towards them, and the three demigods branched off in different directions. Connor fought the Cyclopses (since there were dozens of them); Drew took the left side of the army while Leo took the right.

But it wasn't enough. The three wound up crouching behind a wall while the monsters searched for them.

"What do we do?" Conner asked.

"Come out, little godlings. Leo Valdez, would your mother be proud of your cowardice? What about your brother, Connor Stoll- the one that spends every waking moment with his girlfriend instead of his brother? And Andrea, aren't you anxious to prove that you're not the evil being everyone believes you to be?"

"They know our secrets," Leo whispered. "I think I have an idea."

"And what's that?" Drew hissed.

"So they're bringing up our pasts. Why don't we use our pasts against them?"

The three demigods smiled, maniacally.

* * *

"Where are they?" One Cyclops grunted.

"If I knew, they'd be in my stomach by now, now wouldn't they?" Another snarled.

"Ssstop arguing," a dracnea hissed. "And find them!"

"Connor, now!" Leo shouted, pulling the rope taut on his side and Connor did the same on the other end.

The three monsters, who had been strolling along, fell on their faces, allowing Drew to stab their backs and turn them to dust. Leo lit others on fire while passing Connor more and more traps to set up. Drew smiled sweetly upon the uglies before gutting them.

The monsters were gone, except for the few that had run off, and the trio stood alone on a gold covered hill.

"We did it. We actually did it," Drew gazed in amazement.

And all because they worked together.

* * *

 _I know I didn't focus on the battle, but that wasn't really the point of the story, so that's why. And the reason Leo suggested they use their pasts against them was because of Connor's story, Drew's story, and the numerous others they shared involved some method of stealth and trickery._

 _Well, what'd you think? Review!_


	7. Dare to Dream (Harry, Albus Potter)

_I know... I'm updating One Shots for February in June... but I promised myself I would never abandon a story and I am not going to start now, so at least I'm making an effort._

 ** _Disclaimer: I own nothing._**

 **Dreams. Funny things. Harry used to dream about winning a war; then, he dreamed about having a family; now, he just dreams about getting his son back. Set in the Cursed Child when Albus is missing, somewhat AU**

* * *

 _If your heart is in your dream, no request is too extreme_. -Pinocchio

Dreams. Harry had always hated them. In the beginning, when he was young, they were just that- dreams. Childish images that fooled him into believing that someday he would be free of the Dursleys; while that may have occurred, Harry never found interest in dreaming of the future.

Then, as a teenager, the nightmares began. He dreamed of winning the war, but that didn't stop the doubts that crept into his mind and heart like the slithering shadows on his dorm room walls.

After the war was over, he was tormented by these awful memories and other dreams where the dead would appear and blame him for their deaths. It was an awful few years.

Then, James was born, and Harry wore himself out taking care of his son. By the time his head hit the pillow, his mind didn't have the energy to cook up some night terror.

Harry hadn't dreamed- or at least vividly enough for him to remember them- since the day before James was born.

And now, the lack of dreams was catching up to him.

 **He was running across the lawn, laughing and smiling. He didn't feel as old as he should with his cracking joints and creaking bones; he felt twenty years old again.**

 **"Come get us, Daddy!" James shouted from somewhere, his voice teeny and high pitched, like it had been when he was six or seven.**

 **Harry caught a glimpse of raven locks rushing by, and he dove for the bundle of laughter that was his second son, now only four years old.**

 **Albus giggled, and Harry marveled over how wonderful a sound it was. He'd forgotten how amazing Al's laugh was... He just prayed that he'd be able to hear it again.**

 **Suddenly, Albus wasn't laughing anymore. His light hearted giggles turned to pained gasps for air that he couldn't seem to find.**

 **"Al? Al, what's wrong? GINNY!" Harry shouted over his shoulder.**

 **His scarlet haired wife came running, alongside her numerous brothers and their wives and the children that had been born at the time; it'd been their Sunday family dinner, he remembered.** **James peeked out from the bushes, obviously sensing the tension and distress in the air.**

 **"Al... Al, it's okay. Breathe with me, baby. In... out... in... out," Harry whispered, breathing slowly. His son followed his lead, but breathing didn't seem to be getting any easier for the child.**

 **"D-Daddy," Albus whimpered.**

 **"Shh, Al, it's okay," he told him. "Someone call 911."**

 **"Daddy," he murmured. "It hurts."**

 **"I know, baby. The Healer is on their way."**

 **"B-But, Daddy-" Albus looked over Harry's shoulder and stopped talking.**

 **Harry followed his gaze and searched the edge of the forest but found nothing.**

 **"Did you see something, Al? Did something scare you?"**

 **"The girl with the blue hair..."**

 **Harry looked again, but no one was there.**

In the back of his mind, Harry remembered that day; the doctor had identified the incident as a mere panic attack. When Harry asked what could cause a four year old to have a panic attack, she'd shrugged, saying she didn't know.

Now, Harry knew.

Harry had woken up, his heart pounding and his breath coming out in short gasps.

Blue hair... Delphini, Amos's supposed niece. But she was only nine at the time! The time turner... could this all be linked somehow?

Harry put his head in his hands. He really didn't know anymore.

 **During his next dream, he found himself standing beside the coffee table in his living room. Nine year old James was playing with Teddy in the corner, and five year old Lily was playing dolls with Ginny in the kitchen.**

 **Al was sitting at the coffee table, doodling on notebook paper with all kinds of colors from silver to orange to gold to blue.**

 **Harry knelt beside him. "What are you drawing?"**

 **Al shrugged. "Don't know. Stuff."**

 **Harry stared at his son's pictures.**

 **They truly were scary. One displayed a pale girl with silvery hair with the ends dyed blue, which would've been fine if not for the sinister smile on her face and the blood on her hands. The green background didn't help either.**

 **Another displayed a golden necklace... a time turner, Harry realized. Blood coated the golden hourglass, and familiar gray eyes had been drawn in the center of the green background. (I know Scorpius didn't die, but this picture was meant to sum up their adventure, so it doesn't mean Scorpius was the one to die; it represents the deaths they'd witnessed).**

 **The final one wasn't scary at all. It was just a boy with blonde hair and silver eyes, wearing Slytherin robes. He looked kind of like Draco Malfoy, actually, but his features were softer and a small smile graced his lips.**

 **"Al... these are pretty scary. Where'd you see these things?"**

 **"My dreams," Albus replied before pointing to the blue haired girl. "She's bad. I loved her when I first saw her, but then, she killed a boy. See the blood?"**

 **Harry looked up and met Ginny's eyes. She'd heard everything.**

 **But the next day, the pictures seemingly disappeared and with enough time, they were forgotten about.**

 **Until now.**

Harry sat up, breathing hard.

His son, his beautiful son. He needed him back. He wanted him back.

"Daddy?" A soft voice whispered, and he looked up to see Lily standing in the doorway. Wanting the kids close to them, Ginny and Harry had arranged that Lily and James would come home every weekend. They needed to know that at least two of their children were safe and sound.

"What is it, honey?"

"I miss Al."

"I can't believe I'm saying this, but I do, too," James agreed, stepping inside from the hallway.

"Come here," Harry said, and he allowed the children to climb under the covers.

Ginny, who had woken up, hugged them tightly alongside her husband.

"I miss him, too, kids," Harry murmured. "But I know that Al is out there somewhere. I don't know if he's safe, but he's alive, and that's enough for me right now."

James nodded. "Dad, I never apologized."

"For what?"

"For all the teasing and the bullying... I'm so sorry."

"James, it's not your fault, and when Al comes back, you can apologize to him."

"James, Lily," Ginny said. "Sometimes... you want to say or do things, but you never get around to it, and the next thing you know, they're gone. So when Al gets back, never take him for granted, okay? Can you promise me that?"

The kids nodded.

"Kids, look, we're getting closer. I know who he's with, and we know their plan. All we have to do is catch up to them."

James sniffled. "After I apologize to him, I'm gonna kick his head in for putting himself in danger."

Harry laughed. "You and me both, kiddo."

"Daddy, when do you think we'll find him?" Lily asked.

"I don't know, Lily, but I can promise you that I will not rest until I find Al. We will get him in back. We have to."

* * *

 _What did you think? I didn't think it was too bad, although it's several months late. I just wanted some kind of Potter bonding moment we'd all been waiting for in the new Harry Potter book..._

 _And then, the Cursed Child came out, and we were left extremely disappointed._

 _I'll be back soon. I promise._


	8. How Far We'll Go (Sirius, Black Family)

_Hello, everyone!_

 ** _Disclaimer: I own nothing_**

 **Sirius knew that he'd gone too far. He'd ticked his mother off beyond belief. But if he hadn't done that, he wouldn't be apart of the Potter family. Child abuse**

* * *

" _Only those who will risk going too far can possibly find out how far they can go."_ -T.S Eliot

Sirius Black was angry. So was Walburga Black. Needless to say, that wasn't a good combination.

"YOU GODDAMN BLOOD TRAITOR! I SHOULD'VE KILLED YOU THE MOMENT I CONCEIVED YOU, YOU TREACHEROUS SCUM."

"YOU THINK I ASKED TO BE BORN? YOU THINK I ASKED TO BE YOUR SON? YOU THINK I'M GRATEFUL FOR THE LIFE YOU GAVE ME? YOU FLATTER YOURSELF!"

"GRYFFINDOR! FRIENDS WITH TWO BLOOD TRAITORS AND A WEREWOLF."

Sirius froze. "How did you-"

"Your father has many friends in the Ministry. Did you think he wouldn't know all about Remus Lupin, the werewolf on Hogwarts grounds?" She laughed before smirking. "Maybe I should tell him to ask his friends to get him removed from Hogwarts. And we'll make sure that the little half breed knows that it was all your fault."

If Sirius had been angry before, it was nothing compared to what he felt now.

"YOU BITCH! DON'T YOU DARE THREATEN REMUS THAT WAY! HE MAY BE A WEREWOLF, BUT HE IS A HUNDRED TIMES THE PERSON YOU WILL EVER BE!" He screamed.

"You'd better watch your mouth, boy," she hissed in warning.

"NO! I AM DONE WITH WATCHING MY MOUTH, DONE WITH KEEPING IT SHUT, LEST YOU BEAT THE LIVING DAYLIGHTS OUT OF ME! I'M TIRED OF YOUR CONTROLLING RULES," Sirius breathed, heavily, before continuing in a deathly quiet voice. "You taught me to dance when I could barely walk; you taught me how to handle money and run the family business and uphold the family name before I could do my multiplication tables. You taught me what spoon to use at fancy dinners but not how to make friends or be nice. You taught me how to treat people above me, but not my equals, nor my inferiors. I am done with the pureblood mania, the weight of this entire family on my shoulders as the heir. I don't want to be the heir; someone else can have the title because I am DONE with this entire GODDAMN FAMILY."

As soon as Sirius finished his rant, Walburga slapped him hard across the face. If he were any younger, he would've fallen to the floor from the force of it, but he was sixteen now and was used to the smacks his mother gave him.

Usually, it was enough to shut him up and make him sulk in his room for weeks. But this time, things were different.

Sirius hit her back.

Walburga wasn't expecting it; Sirius's smack threw her to the floor, and Sirius tried not to feel good about knocking his mother down from her pedestal. He wasn't like her, nor would he ever be like her.

Sirius headed for the stairs, totally prepared to pack his bags and get the fuck out of this Hell House.

He never made it.

Pain gripped him, and it was so intense, it sent him to the floor. His body was on fire; acid ran through his veins; glass cut his skin to shreds; he was being burned from the inside out as swords drove themselves into every pore of his skin. Screams echoed in the distance, but he wasn't entirely sure if they were his or not.

"Mother, stop!"

Was he yelling that, or was it someone else? He couldn't tell.

"Stay out of this, Regulus!"

"But Mother, you're hurting him!"

Walburga took the curse off of Sirius to turn to her youngest, pointing the wand at him.

"Would you like to be next?"

Fear shown in Regulus's eyes, but he didn't budge.

"Mother, please, stop," he whispered.

And that was when something got through Sirius's foggy mind. A fact that he'd been ignoring since he returned from his first year.

Regulus was just a kid, and he'd had to witness fights between not only his parents, but his parents and brother, too. He'd had to witness his father pass out from being so drunk; he'd been beaten by their drunken father on more than one occasion; he'd seen their mother be hit, his brother be beaten, and so much more.

He was only fourteen...

Sirius tried to crawl to his feet, tried to say something, but before he could, he passed out on the living room floor.

The last thing he heard was his brother's awful scream.

* * *

When Sirius came to, the first thing he registered was a cold cloth laying across his forehead.

"Ow," he mumbled when he moved and pain shot through his entire body.

He was laying in his bed, and he wondered how he'd gotten there.

The room was slowly coming into focus, and he noticed the calendar on the wall.

July 3rd.

It'd been June 30th when he'd been cursed.

He'd been out for four days.

Suddenly, he heard it: a collection of crashes, screams, sobs, and THWACKS! from downstairs.

Sirius sat up, despite his body's protests, and he climbed out of bed, setting the wash cloth aside. He used the furniture in his room to avoid face planting the floor as he limped his way to the doorway and then, down the stairs.

What he saw made his blood boil.

His mother was standing in the corner, sipping her tea, as though nothing out of the ordinary was happening. Their father was holding a belt in his hand, and he brought it down over and over again, not seeming to hear the pleas from the boy lying on the floor.

That boy was Regulus. He was lying on the floor of his stomach, his shoulders held down by their father. Blood dripped down his back from the angry welts; tears were streaming from his eyes as cries of pain were torn from his mouth.

Sirius ignored all the pain in his body and dove forward, ripping the belt from his father's hand. He started whipping his father, bringing the belt down over and over again, despite his mother cursing him. His anger was so strong, he barely felt the multiple curses hit his body.

"GET OUT OF MY HOUSE!" Orion shouted, his back bleeding even more than Regulus's.

"Gladly," Sirius spat before storming up the stairs and throwing his things in his trunk.

After he'd finished packing, he stomped back down the stairs and threw some Floo powder into the Floo, which wisked him away to Potter Manor.

Sirius tumbled out of the fireplace in Potter Manor, and he fell to the floor, pain coursing through his entire being as the anger washed away and the pain set in.

Apparently, he'd interrupted their dinner because they rushed out of the dining room, staring at Sirius with wide eyes.

"Padfoot!" James cried, racing forward and helping Sirius stand. "What the hell happened to you?"

Mrs. Potter dashed over to wrap Sirius's arm around her shoulders and assist him in limping over to the couch.

"My parents," he spat. "They ticked me off and hit me. For the first time, I hit back. It didn't go over well."

He left out the part about Regulus. He was still trying to process that, so explaining it would be even harder.

Mrs. Potter grabbed a first aid kit and her wand.

"You poor dear," she said as she ran her wand over his body, healing all the curse wounds she could.

Now that Sirius saw what his mother had done to him, he realized just how creative she'd gotten. Slashing spells; punching spells; other painful hexes he'd never even heard of; not to mention the Cruciatious.

"I came here because I didn't know where else to go," he said. "I just need a place to stay until I turn seventeen."

Mr. Potter laughed. "You really thought we were going to let you leave? Sirius, if you didn't ask, we were going to make you stay here."

Sirius blinked. "Really?"

James chuckled. "Yes, really, you idiot. I wasn't going to let any friend of mine sleep on the streets or return to that hell you call home."

"Used to call home," Mr. Potter corrected. "This is your home now. Consider yourself a Potter, Sirius."

Sirius smiled. "Thank you. Very much."

Mrs. Potter smiled back. "Get some rest, dear. You need it."

Sirius nodded before promptly drifting off.

The last thing he heard was Mr. Potter saying, "Goodnight, son."

He thought he was talking to James at first, but his eyes were on Sirius.

Sirius would be lying if he said that Mr. Potter calling him son didn't feel just a little bit good.

Okay, a lot good.

* * *

 _Since it's been so long, I just want to remind you that you can make requests for me to continue a one shot. I'm considering continuing this and having it be about the Aurors arresting Orion and Walburga and Regulus joining the Potter family, as well. If I get enough reviewers that say they want me to do this, I'll do it. Just tell me what you think in the reviews!_


	9. Sickness (Percy, Fred, George)

_Hello, everyone. An extra long one shot for everyone._

 ** _Disclaimer: my name is not JK Rowling. I am a random girl on a random planet between Venus and Mars, which is in a random galaxy in a huge universe. In short terms, I do not own Harry Potter._**

 **When Percy Weasley winds up working himself to the point of exhaustion, he gets sick. And the twins are the only ones home... just great. Set the summer before SS**

* * *

" _The greatest wealth is health_." -Roman poet

Percy Weasley was the type of person that stayed up for days at a time doing work; he suffered from insomnia, so this made sense, but he always knew the lack of sleep would come back to bite him.

Exam time was the worst time of the year for Percy. During exams, he'd be up all night studying and going over his notes until his eyes bled; even after exams were taken, he'd sleep for fourteen hours one day, but then, he'd be up the rest of the week worrying about his scores.

Combine the lack of sleep with not eating (Percy didn't eat when he saw stressed, which meant he almost never ate) and just stress in general, and Percy was exhausted.

He tried to sleep on the train ride home, but Oliver kept talking his ear off about Quidditch, so Percy finally gave up on trying to sleep.

"Hello, brother dear," Fred chuckled as Percy came over.

George frowned. "You alright, mate? You look dead on your feet."

"I'm fine. I'm coming down with a cold."

"There you are!" Their mother cheered as she rushed over, scooping all three of them up in a hug. "We've missed you so much."

She turned to Charlie. "And there's our little graduate. I'm so proud of you, Charlie."

"Thanks, Mum."

"You should be proud," Fred chuckled.

"Half of us didn't expect you to graduate," George laughed.

"You can't talk," Percy snapped. " _No one_ expects you to graduate."

"Geesh. Snippy," Fred muttered.

"Yeah, Perce," Charlie laughed, clapping a hand on Percy's shoulder, before whispering in a not so secret manner, "Are you on your period?"

Percy rolled his eyes. "Seventeen and still acting like a twelve year old. Let's go."

Percy grabbed his trunk and pulled it towards the car, where their father and younger siblings were waiting.

"Somebody's cranky," George mumbled before following Percy.

"Is he sick?" Molly asked Charlie.

Charlie shrugged. "I don't know. He looks sick, but we don't necessarily cross paths at school, so I wouldn't know if he was. He probably just needs sleep; he'll be fine in the morning."

Molly nodded. "I hope so."

But Percy was not fine in the morning. In fact, he was worse.

* * *

Percy didn't get any sleep that night. He tossed and turned, kicking off the sheets in the process, but sleep refused to grace him. The only time he fell asleep was a five minute period of slumber filled with nightmares about failing every class he took, about disappointing everyone. That resulted in a panic attack, so Percy just stopped trying to fall asleep after that.

He didn't go down for breakfast; he told Ron to tell their mother he was simply tired and would come down for lunch.

"Mum!" Ginny called. "May we please go to Diagon Alley?"

Molly laughed. "I don't see why not."

"I'm coming, too!" Ron said.

"Don't forget me!" Charlie said, coming out of the bathroom with a toothbrush in his mouth. "Just let me finish brushing my teeth."

"Mum," Fred asked. "Could we stay here?"

She frowned. "Why?"

Fred shrugged. "We just don't feel like going today."

She shrugged. "I could see if Percy will watch you, but I don't trust you not to burn the house down if you stay here alone."

Fred wanted to protest, but he saw the logic in her statement, so he kept his mouth shut. George smiled at him, and they started planning a prank to pull on Percy.

Molly climbed the stairs and peaked into Percy's room, which was dark with the lights off and the curtains drawn.

"Percy?" She called, quietly.

"Yeah," he mumbled, peaking his head out from his cocoon of blankets.

"I'm taking the little ones and Charlie to Diagon Alley. Could you watch the twins?"

"Sure," Percy said.

"Are you doing okay?"

"Yeah. Just tired. Probably a cold."

"Well, maybe we should stay home," Molly suggested.

"Nah, you go ahead and take them. If the twins get out of control, I'll put them in Chinese handcuffs."

Molly laughed, remembering when Arthur did that the first time Bill had to babysit. He'd connected the twins' toes and fingers with a dozen sets of Chinese handcuffs.

She tried not to remember that Ginny had gotten sick; Fred had broken his arm; and Ron had run away and wound up at the Lovegoods.

They'd never put Bill in charge again.

Molly left the room, leaving with the younger ones tugging on her sleeves, and Charlie laughing as she sighed in exasperation.

"Hey, Perce!" Fred shouted as he and his twin charged into the room.

"Hello," Percy greeted, pulling the covers over his head. "Goodbye."

"That's no way to treat your brothers!" George exclaimed. "Now, come on. It's almost eleven. Time to get up!"

"Time to get up!" Fred echoed before yanking the blanket off of Percy.

He grabbed Percy's arm and immediately jumped back.

"What's wrong?" George asked.

Fred held the back of his hand against Percy's forehead like he'd seen his mum do when they were sick. Fire immediately burned his hand.

"He's running a fever," he whispered to George. "Go get the thermometer."

George nodded and ran off. It was then that Fred noticed the dark circles under Percy's eyes and the snow white paleness of his skin.

"When was the last time you slept?" Fred asked.

"For eight or more hours? The day we finished exams," Percy mumbled.

Fred's eyes widened. They'd finished exams almost two weeks ago.

George returned and handed Fred the thermometer, which Fred placed in Percy's mouth. **(I know they use Celsius in Britain, but I live in America, and I'm too lazy to look up a converter, so I'm using Fahrenheit).**

103.4 degrees Fahrenheit.

"That's bad," Fred mumbled. "Do you know anything how to handle a sick person?" He asked George.

"Uh, Mum puts a cold washcloth on their forehead, tells them to get some rest, and then sometimes she gives them medicine?" George suggested.

Fred nodded. "Well, go get a washcloth, and then, we'll find some medicine."

George nodded and rushed off.

Percy mumbled something.

"What, Percy?"

Percy shook his head. "'M cold."

Fred frowned. A fever of 103 degrees and he was cold? That couldn't be good.

George came back in and handed the washcloth to Fred, who placed it on Percy's forehead.

"Let's go find some medicine," Fred said.

They rifled through the cabinets and came up with a remedy for fevers, but when the brought it up to Percy, they found him gone.

"Perce-"

George was interrupted by the sound of someone throwing up in the bathroom down the hall.

"Aw, fuck," Fred cursed before the pair of them rushed down the hall.

By the time they got there, Percy was dry heaving since he no longer had anything in his stomach.

"I'm gonna go call Dad. Stay with Percy," Fred told his twin before sprinting down the stairs to dial their dad's office.

"Hello?"

"Could you get Arthur Weasley, please? Tell him it's his son."

"Of course. Arthur! It's your son on the phone."

"Hello," their dad's voice said.

"Dad?"

"What is it, Fred?"

"Mum took Ron, Ginny, and Charlie to Diagon Alley. She left Percy in charge of George and I, but now he's sick. Really sick."

"Alright. I'll be there soon."

His dad hung up and moments later, the Floo flared up, spitting out Arthur Weasley and a cloud of soot.

Fred led him up the stairs and to the bathroom, where they found Percy kneeling over the toilet with George rubbing his back.

"Oh, wow," Arthur muttered. He hadn't seen Percy this sick in a long time. Not since he was a baby. "Come on, Percy, let's get you to bed."

Arthur picked up his third eldest and carried him down the hall to his bedroom.

"Could one of you call the mediwitch?" Arthur called over his shoulder.

George went to do so.

* * *

"Kids, we're home!" Molly called as she and three of her kids stepped through the Floo.

No answer.

"Kids?"

She headed up the stairs with an arguing Ron and Ginny, along with a snickering Charlie, on her tail.

"Why can't you just say chocolate and vanilla ice cream are equals?" Charlie asked.

"Because one has to be better!" Ron exclaimed. "And I say, it's chocolate."

"No, vanilla!"

"Chocolate!"

"What do you think, Charlie?"

"I think chocolate's better."

"Ha!"

"I live with crazy people," Ginny huffed.

Molly peaked into the twins' room and found no one there, so she continued onto Percy's room.

That was where she found everyone. Fred and George were sitting on the floor by the door, out of the way, and her husband was seated in a chair by Percy's bed. Their mediwitch, Clara, was kneeling over her third son.

"What's the matter?" Molly asked.

"Percy's sick," Fred answered.

"But he'll be fine," Clara said. "Exhaustion and malnutrition resulted in his immune system breaking down. Really, with enough sleep and some medicine to keep his fever down, he should be fine in two to three days."

"Exhaustion? Malnutrition?" Molly asked.

"Yes. From what I can tell, Percy hasn't slept or eaten properly in a long time. I'll give you something to increase his appetite and something to help him sleep, along with a medicine to keep his fever under control," Clara said, handing three vials to Arthur. "Make sure he takes them according to the instructions, and make sure he's sleeping and eating."

Arthur nodded. "Thank you, Clara."

She nodded before rushing from the room.

* * *

THREE DAYS LATER...

"Percy Weasley, I know you've just been sick, but it's your fault you were like that in the first place."

"I know, but-"

"For a week, no books, no magic, nothing of the sort. You are going to get out of that room and spend time with the family."

"No books?" Percy exclaimed.

"No books!"

"This is hilarious," Charlie laughed from around the corner, where he stood with his siblings. "What an odd punishment."

"It's fitting," Fred pointed out.

"Too true," Charlie agreed.

* * *

 _I know I used a lot of American terms instead of British terms, but cut me some slack, please!_

 _What did you think? I liked it, especially the last part, because that's the punishment my parents use. They just take away my books, and I'm_ _begging for forgiveness._


	10. Leave A Trail (Draco Malfoy)

_I meant to have this up last night, but this one shot was very hard for me to write. The quote was really interesting, but capturing its true meaning was hard in this story. I hope I did a good job._

 _Also, I tried to not make Draco so OOC that you wouldn't recognize him as Draco, but a little OOCness (not a word, but oh well) crept in._

 ** _Disclaimer: I own nothing_**

 **Draco's path was set out for him from the moment he was born. He was to follow in his father's footsteps and be a Slytherin and a jerk and a bunch of other things he didn't sant to be. That all changed when he decided to forge his own path and got sorted into Gryffindor. AU, Gryffindor!Draco**

 **Warnings: implied abuse but it's only two sentences, so not graphic**

* * *

" _Do not go where the path may lead, go instead where there is no path and leave a trail_." -Ralph Waldo Emerson

Draco's path had been determined beforehand by his father. Every detail of Draco's life was layed out before Draco even entered the world, before his mother was even pregnant. These details included who he would be friends with, what house he'd be sorted into, what grades he would get, what his job would be, what he would name his kid, and so much more.

But his father hadn't thought about what would happen if one of those details was messed up.

September 1st, 1991 rolled around, and Draco marched onto the Hogwarts Express, closely followed by Crabbe and Goyle.

His parents hadn't brought him. Dobby had Apparated him there before Lucius had called him back. Draco would be lying if he said that his parents' absence didn't hurt a little bit.

And Crabbe and Goyle were another thing...

He hated them. With a passion. They were annoying, dumb, mean, pathetic followers, and Draco tried so hard to not hate them, considering he'd have to be friends with them for seven more years, but it was so hard.

"You two can go elsewhere," he stated as soon as he stepped onto the train.

Crabbe frowned. "But our fathers said-"

"What your fathers don't know won't hurt them. Shoo," Draco commanded before walking off to find his own compartment.

He found one soon enough, seeing as he was several minutes early and the train hadn't started to fill with students yet.

"Erm... may I sit here?" A voice suddenly asked.

Draco glanced up from the book he was reading and noticed a boy standing in the doorway of the compartment.

The boy was scrawny, even thinner than Draco himself. His raven locks were wild and long, especially his bangs; he desperately needed a haircut. His emerald eyes glinted in the sunlight from behind his wire rimmed glasses; his clothes were around three sizes too big on him.

"It's a free country," Draco said, not necessarily rudely but not very welcoming either.

The boy nodded before seating himself across from Draco.

"Hey," he suddenly said. "Haven't we met before?"

Draco squinted at him, and he found the memory of this boy and why he looked so familiar fairly quickly.

"Yes, Madam Malkin's shop," he responded. "I'm Draco, Draco Malfoy."

"Harry Potter."

Draco kept his cool because that's what Malfoys did, but inside, he freaked out.

You would too if you found yourself meeting a celebrity!

Draco nodded. "Nice to meet you."

The compartment door slid open to reveal a red haired boy.

"I'm sorry, but... everyone else is full," he said. "May I sit here?"

Draco and Harry nodded.

"I'm Ron Weasley," he told them.

"Draco Malfoy."

Ron snickered.

"Don't worry. I know the name is stupid," Draco admitted. "My friends call me Drake, and only my enemies call me Malfoy, and anyone with a death wish calls me Little Malfoy, so don't do that."

"Has anyone ever done it?" Ron asked.

"The Minister of Magic. You do not want to know what I did to him after."

"We really don't," Harry said, scared of the glint in Draco's eyes. "Anyway, I'm Harry Potter."

"The Harry Potter?" Ron gasped. "Blimey."

Harry sat there, awkwardly, as Ron's eyes widened in surprise.

Something hopped onto Draco's foot, and he looked down to see a toad- yes, a toad- resting on his shoes.

"Did someone lose a toad?" Draco asked as he lifted the animal.

"No," Ron said. "All I have is a rat."

Harry shook his head.

"There you are, Trevor," a voice gasped from the doorway.

The boys turned to face a short, pudgy boy with a mop of dark brown hair. His eyes were the color of earth, and his skin was almost as pale as Draco's. He seemed to shrink in on himself, much like a timid child would before running to hide behind their parents' legs.

Draco handed the creature to him.

"Be careful with him," Draco instructed. "My friend has a toad, and they're very hard to keep track of."

He sniffled a laugh as he remembered the time Crabbe came over and lost his toad. They found Crabbe's toad hiding in Lucius's underwear drawer; Draco may have been punished for it, but it was hilarious.

The boy nodded. "Tell me about it. I've lost him five times since I got on the train."

"Oh, I can help you with that," Draco said, a small part of him wanting to show off. He tried not to let it show, though; the last thing he wanted was to be mini Lucius. He shuddered.

"Do you have your wand?" he asked.

The boy nodded, bringing it out of his pocket.

"Well, there's a fairly easy summoning spell you can use. Just picture the object you want and say Accio. So... Accio Trevor," Draco chanted, demonstrating the spell.

The toad flew into his hands.

"Um, okay. Accio Trevor," the boy said, pointing his wand at the toad.

Nothing happened.

"You just have to flick the wand differently," Draco instructed, flicking his own to demonstrate. "And sound more confident. They say confidence in your magic doesn't matter, but it does. If your not confident, your spells don't work nearly as well, if at all."

"Oh. Accio Trevor," the boy stated, sounding much more confident.

The toad flew from Draco's hands and into his.

"Wicked!" He said. "Thanks. I'm Neville, Neville Longbottom."

"I'm Draco Malfoy."

"Harry Potter."

"Ron Weasley."

"Neville, did you find your- oh, you did. Magnificent!" A bushy haired girl strolled into their compartment. "Hello," she said to the other boys. "I'm Hermione Granger."

They introduced themselves once again. Draco almost laughed when Ron stammered; he knew they were going to get together at some point. He could practically see the wedding.

The five of them sat together for the rest of the train ride, laughing and talking much like real friends would.

He could get used to this...

* * *

"Malfoy, Draco!"

Draco walked up the steps to the stage, trying to appear confident and probably failing.

" _Ooh, hello, young Malfoy. But you're different from the other Malfoys. You are very sly and cunning and you even have ambition, but I think you show different qualities that are not of Slytherin."_

But my dad will kill me if I don't get into Slytherin! He'll be so disappointed.

" _And you don't care. Keep in mind, I can read **all** of your thoughts. A part of you cares too much about what your father thinks of you, and the other doesn't care at all._

 _"Now, where to put you?_

 _"You're smart enough for Ravenclaw, but you do not have a strive to learn as most of them do. Hufflepuff is a definite no; you have many of the traits but not strong enough to belong in the House._

 _"But Gryffindor... you are brave, just not in the way that most Gryffindors are. You'd find friendship there; you'd learn wrong from right. Your life would be much better there."_

But my family... they hate Gryffindors, and that means they'll hate me.

 _"You remind me of your mother's cousins. Both had the hearts of a lion. One chose Gryffindor, and until he was about twenty one, he was happy; he had mostly amazing friends. In fact, you've met his godson, but that's a story for another time._

 _"His brother, though, he begged me to put him in Slytherin, and despite my knowing that he didn't belong among the snakes, I listened. He had a horrible life among his peers and even his parents at times. He became a Death Eater, and when he discovered how awful the Dark side was, he went against Voldemort. He died at age eighteen._

 _"You must choose, Draco. I trust your decision."_

Draco thought about it, and he told the hat his decision.

 _"Very good. I knew you'd make the right choice. Ask your mother about her cousins, Sirius and Regulus Black. If she won't answer you, ask one of the professors. You'll find their stories quite interesting._

 _"Anyway... Draco Malfoy, I can say that you truly belong in..._ GRYFFINDOR!"

The hall was silent as the Malfoy jumped off of the stool and made his way to the red and gold table, which gradually started to clap.

He didn't know of the abuse that waiting for him once he returned home. He didn't know he'd be forced to run away when he was fourteen. He didn't know of the trouble he'd get into with the golden trio. He didn't know what his future held at all.

But for now, he sits down at the feast, but instead of the green and silver table, he is at the red and gold table.

And that makes all the difference.

* * *

 _What did you think? I honestly thought it was quite good, but construction criticism is appreciated._

 _Thanks for reading. So long!_


	11. Bullies and New Friends (Oliver, Percy)

_This is a very angsty one shot with a happy ending, and it's undoubtedly one of my best._

 _I was inspired by the Girl Meets World episode, Girl Meets Rileytown, so I need to give them some of the credit._

 ** _Disclaimer: I own nothing._**

 ** _WARNINGS: BISEXUAL CHARACTER, BULLYING, MENTIONS OF SELF HARM, IMPLIED PERCY/OLIVER_**

 **Percy Weasley has been hurt his whole life, but when he starts to get bullied, he'll need to turn to some of the people that have broken his heart to heal it. And maybe being hurt so much is why he's able to pick himself up. After all, as Percy learns, sometimes it takes heartache to fix a broken heart**

* * *

 _"The emotion that can break your heart is sometimes the very one that heals it."_ -Nicholas Sparks

Oliver knew something was wrong with Percy the minute he woke up this morning.

"Percy, if you don't get up, you're going to be late," he told his red haired roommate.

It was seven forty-five, and classes started at eight, and Percy had yet to get out of bed.

"I'm sick, Oliver. Go away," Percy snapped.

Oliver rolled his eyes. "You are not. Get up. You never let me skive off, so I'm not going to let you."

When Percy didn't budge, Oliver strolled over and jumped on him, rolling over him like an obnoxious animal.

"Oliver, what in the name of Merlin himself are you doing?" Groaned Percy.

"I'm going to lay here until you agree to get up," Oliver ordered. "I am more than willing to not go to class, so it's up to you."

Percy sighed. "Alright," he muttered. "Get off me, so I can take a quick shower."

Oliver hopped off of the bed, and Percy, true to his word, shoved off the covers and stood up.

He didn't necessarily look sick, but there was definitely something wrong.

His eyes were rimmed red, like he'd been crying.

"Have you been crying?" Oliver asked.

Percy glared. "No, shove off. I'm fine."

Percy stormed into the bathroom and slammed the door behind him, but Oliver couldn't shake the feeling that something was wrong.

* * *

The fourteen year old redhead slid into his seat mere seconds before the bell rang, and he got out his parchment and quill to take his notes before leaning his head on his hand and staring blankly into the distance.

Oliver frowned from behind him.

He and Percy were not friends. Far from it. In fact, Oliver had teased him on one occassion or another; he wasn't proud of it, but he had. The pair of them argued day and night about the littlest things, like Oliver being too loud or Percy leaving the light on so he could read before bed.

Why did Oliver suddenly care so much?

Professor McGonagall strolled into the classeoom, rolling her eyes at the mayhem that greeted her. Her eyes immediately zeroed in on Percy, who was sitting at his desk, staring blankly ahead, and not doing anything to control the loud fourth years. She frowned in worry.

"Alright, class, can anyone tell me what the answer to number three on the homework was?" She asked.

Some hands went up, and for the first time in four years, Percy's was not one of them.

"Mr. Weasley?" She called.

"I don't know, Professor."

Quills dropped on desks; jaws hit the floor; any whispers that had been ringing out ceased.

"Percy Weasley doesn't know something?" A Ravenclaw asked. "The world has come to an end."

Professor McGonagall, eyes wide, nodded and called on someone else.

Oliver tapped Percy on the shoulder, and he turned to face the Quidditch player.

"Are you sure you're alright?" He asked.

Percy nodded, but his eyes were focused on something over Oliver's shoulder. "Of course."

The redhead faced the front of the room again, and Oliver turned in his chair to see three Ravenclaw boys whispering to each other, pointing at Percy and laughing.

"The geek turned idiot," one chuckled.

"I see he finally took our advice," another snorted.

 _Advice?_ Oliver thought. _What's that supposed to mean?_

"Maybe he won't act like such a know it all now," the third sneered.

Oliver flicked his wand and ink spilled on all three of them, staining their robes and skin black.

"Mr. Wood!" Professor McGonagall scolded. "I saw that."

"You were supposed to," Oliver whispered under his breath, but he wasn't referring to the spell. He was referring to the awful insults the boys had hissed.

"See me after class," she said.

* * *

After Transfiguration came to a close, Oliver stood and walked over to Professor McGonagall's desk, standing before her and nervously fiddling with his robes.

"Mr. Wood, would you be so kind as to tell me why you hexed those boys?" She demanded.

"They were saying some stuff about Percy," Oliver confessed.

"While I admire your loyalty," she said, "you should've come to me."

"I know," Oliver said. "I'll take the punishment."

She smiled, a rare event at Hogwarts that most students only see once or twice in a lifetime. "I'm not going to punish you. In fact, I'm going to reward you five points to Gryffindor, but don't tell anyone."

Oliver nodded. "Thank you, Professor, and if you don't mind, I have to go have a talk with Percy."

"Mr. Wood!" Professor McGonagall called, and he turned to face her from the doorway. "You have one day to figure out what's wrong with Percy, then, you come to an adult. Understand?"

He nodded. "Thank you, Professor."

* * *

Oliver found Percy in their dorm room during their free period, sitting on his bed and gazing blankly into space.

"Percy?" He said, quietly as he sat beside him.

"What?"

"I know we're not the best of friends, but... why didn't you come to me or someone- how could you not come to me or someone if someone was bullying you?"

Percy choked back some tears. "I'm humiliated, Oliver. I didn't want anyone to see me this way, especially my brothers."

Oliver frowned. "Why? They could've helped."

Percy shook his head. "You don't understand, Oliver. They love me; I know they do, but... they're part of the problem. Not the main part of it, but they definitely played a part in it."

"Still, Percy, someone could've helped you."

"I can handle my own problems, Oliver."

"Percy, I'm sure you can, but..." Oliver trailed off as an idea struck him. "Look, Mr. Perfect-"

"DON'T call me that!" Percy suddenly burst out.

Oliver jumped.

"He told me I was a worthless little faggot who no one would ever want. He said I deserved every insult, every beating he or any else gave me, and he said that when everyone figured out that I was anything but perfect, everyone would hate me. Even more than they already do, and he said that the few friends I have would all leave me, and even my family, who's obligated to love me, would desert me. I'd be completely and utterly alone, and I couldn't take that!"

Oliver froze before wrapping his arms around Percy.

"Perce, you know that's not true."

"Why do you care so much anyway? You saw it happening multiple times, but you never did anything."

"Percy, I-I always thought you were so confident, and when you fell, you got back up. I didn't even think about it truly affecting you. I'm so sorry."

Percy blinked. "Thanks."

For a moment, the dorm room was utterly silent.

"He found out some stuff about me," Percy suddenly said.

"Like what?" Oliver asked.

"He caught me kissing a boy in an empty classroom. I'm bisexual, and he-he also found out about this."

Percy rolled up his right sleeve to display several scars. Some were thick and white and years old while others could've been made during the Winter holidays, which were only a few months ago.

"He called me a freak. He told me that only freaks cut themselves," Percy whispered.

Oliver shook his head. "That's not true. I know plenty of people that have dealt with self harm, and none of them are freaks. You certainly are not a freak; fifteen years from now, you'll be the Minister of Magic, and he'll be chugging beer in some run down bar. You're a great person, and all he's ever going to be is mean and rude and selfish and pathetic."

Percy leaned on Oliver's shoulder, still crying. "Thank you."

"Oh, and Percy?"

"Yeah?"

Oliver rolled up his sleeve to reveal several white scars from a few years ago and a few more recent ones from a relapse over the summer.

"Welcome to the land of misfit toys, Perce."

Percy didn't see anything. He didn't have to.

* * *

Percy refused to tell anyone, but he never said that Oliver couldn't, so Oliver took it upon himself to get Percy help. Even if it put himself in danger.

"Alright, Charlie, I know how the twins work. They get revenge through pranks and such until they decide that the person has learned their lesson. But you... you'll beat them up and hex them to St. Mungos. To avoid getting you expelled, I have tied you up."

Charlie frowned from where he was standing in Moaning Myrtle's bathroom with his wrists tied with a rope that was bound to the sink on either side of him. Fred and George were leaning against a wall nearby.

"Okay," Charlie said, wearily. "Why are we in the girls bathroom?"

"No one ever comes in here, and there's a Muffling charm on the door. I even made sure Myrtle was gone while we were having this discussion. It's top secret business."

"What's it about?"

"It's about Percy."

Oliver launched into an explanation, starting from when Percy refused to get out of bed and go to class to what he heard the Ravenclaws say to their conversation in the dorm room earlier that day.

"I know how you are, Charlie. Therefore, I tied you up to avoid you hexing half of the school. I even warned Percy to blockade the dorm room."

Oliver turned to the twins. "Did I do the right thing?"

Fred shook his head.

"What should I have done different?"

"Well, you used a rope."

Oliver's brow furrowed in confusion. "What should I have used?"

"It wouldn't have mattered," George told him.

Charlie yanked his right hand up so hard, the porcelain of the sink shattered; he did the same with his left hand before tugging off the ropes, brushing off the white shards, and marched out of the bathroom.

Fred and George were right at his heels.

"Oh, no," Oliver muttered before following them.

* * *

When Oliver told Percy he was going to be telling his brothers, he blocked the door with his and Oliver's trunks stacked on top of each other. More books were piled on top of that.

He hadn't counted on the window.

The window slid open, and Charlie hopped inside, boiling with rage and a broom in his hand.

Not even a minute after that, the trunks and books toppled as the locking charms were undone, and the twins entered the room, followed by a very impressed Oliver.

"Isn't there a charm on the window?" He asked, pointing at Charlie's broomstick.

Percy nodded. "There is."

"How did he get up here?"

"He's Charlie Weasley."

"Good point."

"How could you not tell us about this?" Charlie demanded.

Percy shrugged. "I didn't think you'd care."

"Percy," Fred said, soundly uncharacteristically gentle. "We tease you, but we're family. Whenever you need us, we're there."

"Now, let's go kick some butt," George snarled. "I want a name."

Percy smiled at Oliver. "Oliver and I actually already have a plan, but we're gonna need your help."

* * *

Percy stood before Him in the entrance hall, smiling weakly.

"You probably didn't expect to see me here because after all, you thought I was a coward, but would a coward be able to stand here right now?" Percy asked.

"You told me I was worthless, weak, a know it all, unwanted, and many other things.

"I'm not worthless. If I was, God or Fate or whatever controls our lives wouldn't have brought me into this world, would they? I'm not weak because I'm here, standing before you, and I've conquered many problems in my life. I've dealt with bullies, self harm; I was born during the first Wizarding War, and I remember the things I saw. I'm smart, yes, and maybe I am a know it all, but is that really such a bad thing? I tutor people; I always have a plan; maybe being a know it all can be a good quality. And I'm not unwanted. I know that now.

"And I don't have to worry about you blabbing my secrets to the whole school because I'm going to tell them right now, and regardless of the aftermath, I'll be proud of myself."

Students filled the entrance hall- coming down the staircase, flowing from the hallways, streaming in from the Great Hall. All of Hogwarts stood in that entrance hall from the first years to the staff.

"You found out I was bisexual. I like boys and I like girls. What's wrong with that? Love is love, and I hope one day, you find someone that you can truly care about and that no one judges you for it.

"You found out about my self harm. People who self harm are not weak or pathetic or freaks. They need help, and they don't know how to ask for it. They hurt themselves on the outside to try and kill the thing on the inside, to try to control their emotions, to feel when they're numb. And overcoming self harm is not easy. The fact that I'm going to try proves that everything you've said about me was untrue.

"I know things about you. Perks of being invisible, you hear things, you see things, and you know people's secrets. But I'm not going to tell anyone about your demons because it's not my place to tell secrets that aren't my own.

"Welcome to the land of misfit toys. You're one for us, and that's nothing to be ashamed of."

The boy stood and ran before anyone could see the tears in his eyes. Percy stared after him in sadness.

"I hope I got through to him," he muttered to Oliver.

Oliver nodded. "I think you did. No one in this school has ever seen him cry before."

"Mr. Weasley?" Professor Dumbedlore called as he strolled over. "Very good job at facing your fears. A hundred points to Gryffindor for being brave, selfless, and forgiving. And Mr. Wood, another hundred points to Gryffindor for helping a friend in need. Keep up the good work."

Percy nodded. "Thank you."

Oliver and Percy grabbed each other's hands and plowed their way through the whispering students.

And that's the story of how Oliver Wood and Percy Weasley became friends. Not with a chance meeting, but with two halves of the same broken heart connecting.

And that was how that broken heart mended.

* * *

 _Just so you know, the bully's name is not mentioned on purpose, so you can see it as a canon character or an OC or whatever._

 _What did you think? I'm actually quite proud of this. I tried to portray bullying acurrately. I have dealt the depression and self harm, so those parts of the story are completely accurate, but I have thankfully never been bullied, so I hope I did a good job of portraying it accurately._

 _Review!_


	12. Our Inner Child (Draco, Harry)

_I just thought that this was something Lucius would do to his child, so I thought why not write a one shot about it? I know Draco and Harry are OOC, but it's more because I was focused on the story line over the characters, so..._

 ** _Disclaimer: I own nothing_**

 **Harry Potter is about to discover all is not as it seems when he discovers Draco Malfoy's hidden secret. Out of everything it could've been, Harry hadn't even considered the fact that Draco Malfoy might be a girl. child abuse, somewhat Trans!Draco (you have to read to find out what I mean by somewhat)**

* * *

 _See the inner child in everyone._ -Demi Lovato

Harry didn't mean to walk in on a girl changing. It was really an accident, I swear.

He'd been wanting to get away from Ron and Hermione's endless bickering and the explosion of noise that was the Gryffindor Common Room. In hopes of peace and quiet, he'd wandered the castle since it was before curfew; all he'd done was walk into Moaning Myrtle's Bathroom since no one ever used it anyway.

"Aw, shoot, I'm so sorry!" Harry gasped as he opened the door and caught just a glimpse of blonde hair and a girl's bare chest before he slammed the door.

"Potter?!" A voice called. It was a few octaves higher than usual, but Harry would recognize it anywhere.

"Malfoy?" Harry gasped.

"Yeah, just... give me a second," the blonde Slytherin ordered, purposely lowering his voice to make it sound like it usually did.

There was some shuffling, and then, the door opened to reveal the Draco Malfoy that Harry knew. Same short blonde hair, pale face, and he appeared to be male unless you looked at his chest and saw his (her? Harry was really confused now) beasts through the shirt. As soon as he opened the door, he threw his robes on over the simple uniform shirt and crossed his arms over his chest, burying his secret under layers of clothes and two thin arms.

"Malfoy... you're a...a..."

"Girl?" Draco suggested.

Harry nodded.

Draco pursed his lips. "I guess I can't obliviate you; I suck at that spell and everyone would be suspicious if the Golden Boy lost his memory all of a sudden. Close the door."

Harry did so, and Draco waved his wand, casting a silencing spell around the room.

"Now, Potter, I will tell you why I am a female if you swear on your magic that you will not tell a soul, living or dead, for as long as you shall live."

Harry nodded. "I swear."

"Potter, keep in mind that swearing on your magic is literal. Breaking the vow means your magic vanishes, even if you admit it by accident. The only way you can be released from the vow is if I say you're released from it. Got it?"

"Got it."

"Alright. Swear on your magic that anything said in this room does not leave this room unless it is not your fault. Therefore, if I tell someone, you are not at fault."

"I swear."

"Good. I was born a girl, obviously," Draco stated. "My father, though, he wanted a boy to be the Malfoy heir; he and my mother only wanted one child, and my mother completely disagreed to get pregnant again. My father took matters into his own hands.

"He cut my hair like a boy's; I wasn't to like dolls or dresses or anything that was, in any way, _girly_. He even tried to put me on the drugs from a young age, but I had an allergic reaction, and he'd rather have a female child than a dead one.

"He didn't care what I wanted. Neither did my mother. They never even asked me. All I know is if I go against their wishes and act like a girl or dress like one, I'll get beaten."

Harry blinked. "So let me get this straight: you were born a girl, but your dad wanted a boy, so he made everyone think you were one, and he wanted to biologically make you a boy?"

Draco nodded.

"And what do you want?"

"What do you mean?"

"Do you want to be a boy or a girl?"

Draco shrugged. "I really don't know. I still like a lot of things that girls do, and I really don't want to have any surgeries to make me a boy, but I guess... after 'being a boy' for so long, it'd be weird being anything different."

Harry nodded.

"You didn't understand any of that, did you?"

"Not at all."

"It's alright. It's hard to understand until you've experienced it."

"Malfoy... Draco," Harry said. "I'm sorry I called you a coward and pathetic."

"I'm sorry I made fun of you for... a lot of things. You're a lot better person than I am."

Harry nudged him, playfully. "Hey. You're not a bad person. It's just how you were raised."

Draco nodded. "Thanks."

Draco sighed before going over to his bag and withdrawing a small locked box that could fit in Harry's hand.

"I'm going to show you something," he said. "One year, my father went on a business trip, and my mother was off somewhere else. Dobby (you've met him) and the other house elves were the only other souls beyond my parents that knew. He threw me a birthday party that year when my parents weren't home."

Draco cast several unlocking charms before opening the box and removing a piece of cardboard from the inside of the lid. There was one picture behind it.

Draco handed it to Harry, and Harry smiled.

It was a photo of a young child. Her blonde hair was up in pigtails; her blue eyes were brighter than Harry had ever seen them. She wore a blue dress, and there was a simple birthday cake in front of her with pink icing and a hot pink candle in the shape of a number 6.

"My accidental magic kicked in that year. As soon as my father left for his trip, my hair grew from just below my ears to my shoulders in a matter of minutes."

"Where'd you get the dress?" Harry asked.

Draco laughed. "Dobby took me shopping, and I picked out that dress. After the party, I asked him if he wanted to be set free, and I was standing there with the boys shirt my father made wear. Dobby said no; it wasn't time for him to leave yet.

"I got a doll that year. Dobby stole it from Pansy; she had so many, she wouldn't miss a simple, cheap, cloth doll that one of her relatives probably picked up at a yard sale. But it meant a lot to me; I still have it, hidden away at home."

Harry grinned. "You were a cute kid."

Draco humphed. "I still am a cute kid."

Harry laughed. "Did Dobby really stay? He looked like he really wanted to be set free."

Draco nodded. "He did, but... he said he had some unfinished business to take care of. He took care of me. Made sure I knew what to do when the weird girl things started. Got me girl things when he could, and he helped me hide them. He trimmed my hair when my magic grew it out past what my father wanted. He healed me when I got beaten."

"You really care about him, don't you?"

Draco nodded. "He still visits when he can.

"Remember, Potter," Draco continued. "Don't go blabbing."

Harry shook his head. "I won't, and Draco, your dad can't determine who you are. Girl or boy, you're Draco Malfoy, and if he doesn't like that, it's his loss."

Draco nodded. "Thanks, Harry."

The blonde picked up a roll of Ace bandages from the floor as Harry headed for the door.

"What are those for?" Harry asked.

Draco simply gestured to his chest.

Harry nodded. "Oh, right."

"Hey, Harry?"

"Yeah?"

"You're pretty good at Care for Magical Creatures, aren't you?"

Harry nodded. "Why?"

"Do you think... if you don't mind... would you maybe tutor me?" Draco asked, not meeting Harry's eyes.

Harry's eyes widened in surprise before he smiled. "Only if you tutor me in Potions."

Draco smiled. "Library tomorrow at five?"

Harry nodded. "See you then."

"Bye."

Harry thought about that picture all the way back to Gryffindor Tower, about the innocent little girl that Draco Malfoy had been and the conflicted, confused teenager he was today.

That little girl was still in there somewhere. Harry just had to bring her back out.

(And he would never forget Ron and Hermione's faces when they saw him studying with Draco in the library. It was priceless!)

* * *

 _over all, not my best one shot and the idea's a little out there, but it just came to my mind when I saw that quote, so I started writing and this happened. What did you think? Review!_


	13. No Right Time (Arthur, Percy)

_Hello, everyone! It's a bit shorter than I'd intended, but I think it's still okay._

 ** _Disclaimer: I own nothing._**

 **Percy had wanted to apologize for a long time, since the minute he walked out of the Burrow. He told himself he was giving them time to cool off, waiting for the perfect time. But there is no perfect time. The only time is now. Or an AU where Percy goes to the hospital to visit Arthur in OOTP**

* * *

 _"Don't wait, the time will never be just right."_ -Napoleon Hill

Percy paced.

And paced.

And paced.

He was sure he'd made a trench in his floor by now, and his legs were starting to get tired, but the restless energy he had was simply spreading to his tapping fingers and toss.

The letter was crinkled in his hand, and the words were burned into his skull.

 _Percy,_

 _I know you and your father are mad, but please, his in the hospital. Please come._

 _-Mum_

Percy would be lying if he said he didn't want to go. The man was his father, after all; not going to visit him... just felt wrong, and this time, that feeling was too strong to ignore.

The red head collapsed onto the couch, groaning in exasperation. Decision making had never been so hard for him!

" **Aw, Arthur, he looks just like you, right down to the glasses," a woman was saying.**

 **It was father son day at the Ministry, and since none of the others had wanted to go, Arthur had taken Percy, only seven but so keen to learn anything and everything about the Ministry.**

 **"I know," Arthur smiled. "He's mini me."**

 **"I'm going to be just like Daddy when I grow up!" Percy exclaimed, looking up at the woman.**

 **She chuckled. "That's a very good ambition. Your father's a great man."**

Percy put his head in his hands, sighing and listening to his breath puff through the small gaps between his fingers.

The woman was right. His father was a great man. He didn't make a whole bunch of money; he was looked down on by his superiors, but if there was one thing that Arthur Weasley was, he was a great man. Not to mention a great husband, a great friend, a great father.

He missed him.

 **Percy opened his Hogwarts letter, trying not to look too excited, and he barely contained a very unmanly squeal when a shiny badge fell out of the envelope.**

 **"A prefect!" His mother cried. "Oh, Percy, I'm so proud of you!"**

 **"We both are," Arthur said. "Fantastic job, son."**

 **"Thanks, Dad," Percy smiled.**

 **Tears had sprung to Arthur's eyes because that was the first time Percy had called him dad since he was twelve. It would also be the last time for four years to come.**

Percy wiped the salt water from his eyes, smearing tears across his fingers.

He remembered the one time his dad saw him cry as a teenager. He'd been seventeen, and he'd come home for the Christmas holidays (I know the Weasleys didn't come home for Christmas that year, but we're going to pretend they did).

" **Percy," his dad called. "Your mother's been calling you. It's time for dinner."**

 **"I'm not hungry!" Percy called back.**

 **His dad opened the door without permission, and Percy hurriedly wiped his eyes.**

 **His dad walked over and sat beside him on the bed.**

 **"What happened?"**

 **"Penelope cheated on me," Percy admitted.**

 **Arthur sighed. "Oh, Percy, I know how that feels."**

 **"No. I mean... it's worse than that. We had sex. She cheated on me a week later," Percy told him, feeling incredibly awkward about having this discussion with his dad of all people, but it felt good to get it off his chest.**

 **"Oh, Perce," Arthur whispered, but before Arthur could give him a lecture, Percy cut him off.**

 **"I know I shouldn't have, but we went to the Room of Requirement on her birthday, and she brought a drink with her. I didn't know what it was, but she said it was just a Muggle drink. I'd never tried alcohol before, and she didn't seem like the type to drink underage; I didn't even know it was alcohol. Next thing I know, I'm waking up in bed with her."**

 **Arthur breathed through his nose before leaning over and wrapping Percy in a hug.**

 **"Why does it hurt so much?" Percy asked.**

 **"They wouldn't call it falling in love if you didn't get hurt sometimes," Arthur told him.**

Decision made, Percy grabbed his cloak off of the coat rack and headed for the floo.

The hospital was oddly quiet. There were a few nurses and doctors, but most patients were already in bed and the Healer amount had dwindled as most went home after the day shift.

The visiting hours were all day at St. Mungos because if something couldn't be healed quickly with the flick of a wand, it was serious. Anyone with serious injuries deserved someone at their bed side at all times.

That was why Percy was surprised to find his father's room empty, aside from the injured red haired man.

He found a note on the bed side table.

 _Arthur,_

 _In case you wake up, Bill and Charlie had to return to work and were heading home after that. They'll be back in the morning. Bill forced me to go home and get some rest, and I took the kids with me. We'll return in the morning. Dumbledore is having Mundungous sit with you just in case._

 _-Molly_

"Dumbledore must've stationed a bad guard," Percy mumbled, quietly, seeing as there was no one else here.

He didn't mumble it quietly enough.

Arthur rolled over and blearily opened his eyes. Percy froze like a deer in a headlight.

"Percy," he muttered.

Percy had a chance to back out, but no, he wasn't going to wait anymore. There was no right time for an apology. The best time was now.

"Hi, Dad," Percy whispered.

Arthur, upon hearing Percy's voice, tried to sit up, but Percy gently pushed him back to the bed.

"Don't try to sit up. We don't want you to hurt yourself anymore."

As his dad tried to get more comfortable on the brick of a hospital bed, Percy seated himself in the vacated chair beside the bed.

"I'm sorry, Dad," Percy whispered. "For everthing."

"Percy, you were forgiven the minute you walked in that door," Arthur said, gesturing to the doorway. "And I'm sorry, too."

Percy hugged Arthur, tightly, and his dad hugged him back. The men cried like they'd never cried before.

When Molly and the six other Weasleys returned the next morning, they found Percy asleep in the chair and Arthur slumbering peacefully for the first time since Percy left.

The prodigal son had returned.

* * *

 _What did you think? Review!_


	14. All Your Heart (Leo, Hephaestus Cabin)

_The hatius has been lifted! Since it's been a whole year, I have been introduced to some new fandoms, so you'll get to see some more variety._

 _There was no physician cure, so Leo still defeated Gaea, but he was revived a different way. His oath was also different._

 _FANDOM: PERCY JACKSON/HEROES OF OLYMPUS_

 **Summary: Leo has always run away; it was a coping mechanism. But most of the time, his heart wasn't in leaving. It takes an angry and confused eight year old and a bunch of ticked off half siblings to make him realize that it's okay to stay. AU, Leo never met Calypso**

 _ **Disclaimer: I own nothing.**_

* * *

 _"Wherever you go, go with all your heart." -Confucius_

* * *

His bag was packed with a few extra changes of clothes, a refillable water bottle, some extra food, some nectar and ambrosia, and some money-both mortal and demigod money. His toolbelt was tied around his hips, and there was a dagger in one of the pockets and some first aid supplies in another.

The war was won. Gaea was gone. His purpose was fulfilled. His time was done here.

Everyone had forgotten about him. The seven were all spending time with their respective girlfriends or boyfriends, and even Piper and Jason hadn't been spending time with the Repair Boy, too wrapped up in each other.

Leo had defeated Gaea. He'd technically died, and Will and some other Apollo kids had just barely been able to shock his heart back to beating again. His oath to avenge his mom and defeat the woman/goddess that had killed her was fulfilled.

Still, everyone had seemingly forgotten about that. He could understand; they'd survived a dangerous war and wanted to spend time with each other in case the peace was broken once more.

Leo couldn't help but think of Percy, who'd defeated Kronos and would now go down in demigod history. He thought about everyone, even Clarrise, searching for the son of Poseidon during Hera's 'exchange program'.

Would anyone search for him? Would they even notice?

The note was written, and he placed it on his made bed; his backpack was slung over his shoulder, and he prepared to say goodbye to Camp Half Blood.

"Leo, why do you have a backpack?"

Leo froze.

Oh, shitaki mushrooms, he thought before slowly turning to face Harley, his littlest brother.

Eight year old Harley stood in the doorway, holding his baby blanket, one of the only possessions he'd had when he arrived at Camp Half Blood. Only his half siblings knew about the blanket, and they all knew Harley would kick some butt if any of them blabbed.

"Are you leaving?" Harley asked, perplexed.

"Harley..." Leo trailed off, not knowing what to say.

"NO! You can't leave," Harley snapped, suddenly very angry. "NO!"

"Harley, shh."

Too late.

The door to his private room opened, and the entire cabin crowded into the room, wondering what all the commotion was about.

"What's wrong, Harley?" Jake asked, tiredly. It was, after all, three in the morning.

"Leo's leaving!" Harley bawled.

"What?" Nyssa demanded, turning to look at Leo, who was standing there with a bag over his shoulder.

"Leo, why do you have a bag?" Shane questioned. "You're not running away, are you?"

Leo shrugged, not meeting any of their eyes.

Nyssa marched over to him, and she yanked the bag off of Leo's shoulders with unnecessary force before tossing it on the bed.

"Sit," she ordered, shoving him onto the bed. "Why are you running away?"

Leo picked up the note and handed it to her, knowing he wasn't going to like her reaction.

"Nobody wants you here?" She growled. "When did I become nobody?"

Leo's head snapped up to look at her. "What?"

"When did Harley become nobody? When did any of _us_ become nobody?" She demanded. "Do not sit there and say that nobody wants you because I want you. We want you."

"Leo..." Jake said. "We don't _want_ you. We _need_ you," he corrected.

"You do not know how many times we all wondered how you were doing," Christopher added. "When we were building the Argo II and you didn't leave the Bunker for days at a time, we worried."

"When you left, we worried," Chris (different person) continued.

"When we all you thought you died, we worried," Haylee finished.

"We cried for you, Leo. We fought for you, and we were- _are_ \- here for you," Nyssa finished. "So how can you say that nobody wants you when all of us do?"

Leo frowned. "You'd be better off without me."

"Would we?" Nyssa demanded. "Leo, you saw us before you became one of us, how messed up we were. Did it ever occur to you that that might happen again if you left?"

It hadn't.

"We need you, Leo," Jake said. "One more question: do you even want to leave?"

He didn't... but he had to. If he stayed in one place too long, he'd get attached, and that would make it hard to run away when he had to.

Leo shook his head. "I don't, but I have to."

Nyssa frowned. "Why?"

"Because ever since I was eight, I've always run. Sometimes I had a reason, like abuse or neglect or bullying. Other times, though... I ran because I'd rather leave sooner rather than later. I've only gotten attached a few times, but then something happened that meant I needed to leave, and it was so hard to. I wanted to avoid that," Leo explained.

"Come on," Jake stated.

Leo frowned. "Where?"

"You need to talk to some people."

Leo sighed and followed Jake and Nyssa out of the cabin. They crossed the grass until they reached the Hermes cabin, and Leo watched as Nyssa knocked.

"It is three in the morning. Who knocks at three in the morning?" A Hermes kid muttered as he opened the door.

"We need Travis and Connor," Nyssa stated.

"Travis, Connor, it's for you," the boy muttered before collapsing into his bunk.

"What are you guys doing here so early?" Travis asked as him and his brother stepped outside.

"Leo wants to run away," Jake explained.

Neither boy appeared to be surprised.

"I see," Connor stated. "Did you know we tried to run away from camp?"

Leo blinked. "You did?"

"Oh, yeah, three times. Do you want to know what Chiron told us the third time?" Travis asked.

"What?" Leo questioned.

"He said I can't make you stay, but next time you want to run away, I want you to think about this: wherever you go, go with all your heart. He knew that we didn't really want to run away; we didn't know how to cope with being in a new place with a new life, and we tried to run away from it," Connor explained.

"We chose to stay because our heart wasn't in running away. We knew that," Travis said. "We can't make you stay, Leo. No one can," he said with a pointed glance at Nyssa. "But just remember what we said. Wherever you go, go with at your heart. If your heart is in running away, we won't stop you."

Travis and Connor stared at Leo for another moment before ducking inside their cabin.

The siblings returned to their own cabin, and Leo's siblings left his room. Leo waited until each and every one of them was snoring in their beds, even Harley.

He glanced at his packed bag, lying on his bed.

 _"One more question: do you even want to leave?"_

 _"If your heart is in running away, we won't stop you."_

 _"Wherever you go, go with at your heart."_

When morning came, the Hephaestus children opened the door to Leo's private room, fearing they would find their brother's bed empty.

Instead, they found Leo Valdez sleeping soundly in his bed with his bag unpacked, and they knew that Leo had chosen to stay. Hopefully for good.

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 _Hope you enjoyed the chapter! Thanks for reading! Bye!_


	15. Asking For Help Makes You Brave (GMW)

_FANDOM: GIRL MEETS WORLD_

 ** _Disclaimer: I own nothing._**

 ** _WARNINGS: BULLYING_**

 **"I didn't want to be weak. I should be able to handle my own problems," Farkle muttered. "He was right about me. I have nothing to be confident about." Riley sighed. "Farkle, never getting help doesn't make you brave. If anything, it makes you weak." Girl Meets World, episode: Girl Meets Flaws**

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 _"Never getting help doesn't make you brave." -_ straylight run "sympathy for the martyr"

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"Farkle, this isn't you," Riley said, firmly, dragging the scrawny genius out of his chair by the front of his shirt. "This isn't the Farkle I know, and I want to know why, and I want to know now."

"He said I was the biggest nothing in this school," Farkle replied.

That caught Riley off guard. "What?" she choked out, hoping that Farkle wasn't saying what she thought he was saying.

"He said I had no right to go around acting all confident and pretending like people liked me. He said I had no right to have friends like you because I was the biggest nothing in this school," Farkle explained, his usual smile absent from his face.

Riley blinked, and she pulled her friend into a hug. She barely noticed Janitor Harley leave the janitors closet.

Her best friend was being bullied, and he didn't even think to tell them about it… somehow, that last part hurt Riley more than the realization that Farkle had to go through this. The realization that he thought he had to go through it alone was twice as painful.

"Farkle, why didn't you tell us?" Riley demanded. "We could've helped."

"No, you can't," Farkle replied.

"Yes, we can if you'll let us," Riley disagreed, trying to catch her friend's eyes, but he seemed determined to avoid her gaze. "Farkle, that isn't the only thing he said to you, is it?"

Farkle shook his head. "No. That's just the tip of the ice berg."

"Farkle, please… tell me. I know you think I can't help, but I can try," Riley said.

Farkle sat down in his chair, and tears began to make their way down his face, despite Farkle's obvious attempts to avoid crying.

"He called me useless, a freak, a loser, weird… and worst all, he called me worthless," Farkle swallowed hard, as though saying the word aloud physically pained him.

Riley sat on an upside down bucket beside Farkle.

"Farkle, I'm going to ask you again, and I want a real answer this time: why didn't you tell us?" Riley asked.

"I didn't want to be weak. I should be able to handle my own problems," Farkle muttered, scrubbing away his tears. "He was right about me. I have nothing to be confident about."

Riley sighed. "Farkle, never getting help doesn't make you brave. If anything, it makes you weak."

"How so?" Farkle asked, flatly.

"Farkle, the more emotions you hold inside, the more it hurts. It's like a balloon. The more air you put into it, the more strained it gets. If a balloon could feel, it would probably be feeling a lot of pain, and if you fill it up with too much air…" Riley trailed off.

"It pops," Farkle finished. "Riley, I've heard the balloon metaphor before, and it's not going to change my mind."

"All right," Riley said. "I'll give you a Riley original."

She dug around in her backpack and withdrew a stuffed dog (yes, Riley carries around stuffed animals in her backpack. Did you expect any different?), which she held in the air.

"Imagine that this stuffed dog is you," Riley said, "and imagine that your bully is a big dog that gets ahold of this stuffed animal. What do you think will happen?"

"The actual dog will chew up the stuffed animal," Farkle answered.

"Now, this stuffed dog can't cry out for help, but imagine that it could, and it chose not to. It let the big dog chew on it and throw it around and basically just beat it down until the dog didn't think he'd be able to get back up again. How would things be different if the stuffed dog called out for help? It could've been saved, right?"

Farkle nodded.

"Well, if this stuffed dog is you, and your bully is beating you down- mentally, speaking. There aren't any physical problems are there?" Riley asked.

Farkle pursed his lips. "Some, but… I'm still standing, so…"

"That doesn't matter," Riley told him. "You're still hurt, and you're coming to my house after school, so my parents can look over any injuries."

Farkle nodded. "All right, Nurse Riley."

Riley nodded with a small smile before it dropped. "Anyway, this bully will beat you down, physically and mentally, until you don't think you can get back up again. At worst, staying silent could put you in the hospital. All you have to do is cry out for help, and Maya, Lucas, and I, not to mention my family and your parents, will be there to save you. Your choices are… try to fight this battle on your own and risk losing. Or let us help you, and you'll have no chance of losing. You're a genius, Farkle. Which is the better option?"

Farkle took a shaky breath as the memories flashed in front of his eyes.

 _"You little freak!" Billy cackled, shoving him into the lockers…_

 _Fists beating down on him, staying away from his face, but causing pain in other areas, like his ribs and stomach and chest and… everywhere else, basically…_

 _Begging for mercy, begging for Billy to stop the beating, the taunts…_

 _"Weirdo!"_

 _"Useless!"_

 _"Loser!"_

 _"You have no right to go around acting all confident and pretending like people like you, Farkle," Billy growled, sending a kick into Farkle's side after every few words. "You have no right to have friends like Lucas and Maya and Riley because you are the biggest nothing in this school. No one wants you!"_

 _"Face it, Farkle, you're worthless!"_

 _"WORTHLESS!"_

 _"WORTHLESS!"_

 _"WORTHLESS!"_

A tear trickled down Farkle's cheek.

"Riley," he whispered.

"Yeah," she responded.

"I think I need some help."

She smiled. "And I am more than happy to give it. Now, start from the beginning."

Farkle inhaled deeply, and he began the long, torturous story of Billy's bullying. Every memory that passed through his mind made him feel so alone, but Riley's grip on his hand assured him that she was there for him, and she wouldn't be leaving any time soon.

* * *

 _Not my best work, but I still though it was okay. Leave a review to tell me what you think!_


	16. Happy Equals Pretty (Full House)

_FANDOM: FULL HOUSE_

 ** _Disclaimer: I own nothing._**

 **Michelle Tanner was thirteen the first time she was called ugly, and she was, understandably, very upset. Luckily, her older Stephanie is there to remind her that she looks much prettier when she's happy.**

* * *

 _"If you have good thoughts, they will shine out of your face like sunbeams, and you will always look lovely." -_ Roald Dahl

* * *

Michelle Tanner was thirteen the first time she was called ugly.

Michelle clicked her tongue nervously as she approached an incredibly cute boy named Jackson, who was surrounded by his usual band of affectionate girls.

"Hey, Jackson, would you maybe want to hang out some time?" Michelle blurted, taking her older sister's advice to just go for it, like ripping off a Band-Aid.

Jackson opened his mouth to reply, but the girl next to him- a knock out pageant queen of a girl with the latest clothes and hair styles and make up to make her look even prettier (if that was even possible)- laughed, cruelly.

"Why would he want to go out with an ugly geek such as yourself?" the girl cackled, and the others joined her.

Michelle felt tears sting her eyes as the insult bounced around inside her brain.

 _Ugly._

 _Ugly._

 _Ugly._

Michelle turned on her heel and ran in the opposite direction. She didn't see Jackson staring after her, regret plastered across his face.

Michelle didn't care about the fact that the school day wasn't over for another two hours; she ran out the doors and didn't look back.

Michelle burst into her house, and she bolted up the stairs, collapsing onto her bed and sobbing into her pillow.

 _Ugly._

 _Ugly._

 _Ugly._

The mantra wouldn't stop.

 _"Why would he want to go out with an ugly geek such as yourself?"_

 _Ugly._

 _Ugly._

 _Ugly._

Michelle had known that there would be times in her life when people called her names, but she didn't expect it to hurt so much.

A soft knock sounded on the door frame.

What? Uncle Jesse, Joey, Aunt Becky, and her Dad were at work. DJ was away at college; Stephanie and the twins were in school, so who could…

"Michelle?"

"What are you doing home?" Michelle sniffled, scrubbing away her tears.

"It's senior ditch day," Stephanie replied. "What's wrong?" the older sister asked as she sat beside Michelle on the bed.

"A girl called me ugly," Michelle muttered in response.

Stephanie sighed. "That can be tough. I remember when I first got called ugly. I did not handle it well. If I'm being honest, I handled it worse than you are right now."

Michelle wiped away her tears. "You did?"

Stephanie nodded. "Oh, yeah. Way worse. I cried for two days, and everyone did everything they could to calm me down, but nothing worked. In the end, it took _Kimmy Gibbler_ comforting me to snap me out of it."

"How'd she do that?" Michelle asked.

"She walked into the room and said, _hey, Steph, what's going on with the ugly face?_ When I cried harder, she said _come on, you usually look so pretty. Why are you ruining it with the tears?_ That got my attention, and I asked her what she meant. You want to know what she said?"

"What?" Michelle questioned, curiously.

"She said exactly what I'm telling you now. You always look pretty when you're happy. A frown is the only thing that can possibly make a person ugly. She had a point. I miss your smile, Michelle. It's your best feature," Stephanie told her. "Why do you think everyone falls in love with you the minute they see you? Your smile is so beautiful, people can't help but love you the minute they meet you."

Michelle blinked. "You really think so?"

"I know so. Now, wipe your tears, turn your frown upside down, and don't let that person get to you. If they ever insult you again, smile and walk away. If you do that enough times, you'll confuse them so much they'll just stop because they know that nothing in this world can you bring you down," Stephanie said, hugging her sister and handing her a tissue.

A knock sounded at the door downstairs, and while Stephanie went to answer it, Michelle wiped away her tears and looked at herself in the mirror, forcing a smile upon her face.

Within a few seconds, that smile became much more natural.

Stephanie wasn't wrong. Michelle did look better when she was happy.

"Michelle, it's for you!" Stephanie called, and Michelle ran down the stairs.

She was shocked to see Jackson standing at the door.

"Hey, Michelle," he said. "I'm sorry about Lisa. She can be… well, just plain mean, and that's why I keep telling her to stop following me around. Unfortunately, she doesn't give up.

"My point is… I would love to hang out. I'm actually free right now if you are," Jackson said.

Michelle nodded. "I am. How about we go down to that ice cream parlor on the corner?"

Jackson nodded. "I'd like that."

Michelle gave Stephanie one last smile before she stepped outside and walked away from the door with Jackson while Stephane smiled at them as they approached the end of the driveway.

"Oh, by the way," Jackson said, grinning at Michelle. "I love your smile. I don't know how you can always be so happy. You never seem to have a bad day. Even now, you're smiling after what Lisa said. I couldn't do that."

Michelle smiled wider. "Well, as a wise woman once told me, I look my best when I'm happy."

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 _This is shorter than usual, but I'm actually very proud of it. Please leave a review! Thanks for reading!_


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